Bill Text: VA HB956 | 2022 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 25-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-02-22 - Passed by indefinitely in Privileges and Elections (9-Y 6-N) [HB956 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HB956-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §24.2-709 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§24.2-709. Ballot to be returned in manner prescribed by law.
A. Any ballot returned to the office of the general registrar or to a drop-off location in any manner except as prescribed by law shall be void. Absentee ballots shall be returned to the general registrar or to a drop-off location before the closing of the polls. Any voter who is in line to return an absentee ballot at a drop-off location by 7:00 p.m. on the day of the election shall be permitted to deposit his absentee ballot. The registrar receiving the ballot shall (i) seal the ballot in an envelope with the statement or declaration of the voter, or both, attached to the outside and (ii) mark on each envelope the date, time, and manner of delivery. No returned absentee ballot shall be deemed void because (a) the inner envelope containing the voted ballot is imperfectly sealed so long as the outside envelope containing the ballot envelope is sealed or (b) it is not returned sealed in the outside envelope so long as it is returned sealed in the inner envelope.
B. Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection A, any absentee ballot (i) returned to the general
registrar after the closing of the polls on election day but before noon on the
third day after the election and (ii) postmarked on or before the date of the
election shall be counted pursuant to the procedures set forth in this chapter
if the voter is found entitled to vote. For purposes of this subsection, a postmark
shall include any other official indicia of confirmation of mailing by the
United States Postal Service or other postal or delivery service.
C.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, any absentee ballot (i)
received after the close of the polls on any election day, (ii) received before
5:00 p.m. on the second business day before the State Board meets to ascertain
the results of the election pursuant to this title, (iii) requested on or
before but not sent by the deadline for making absentee ballots available under
§24.2-612, and (iv) cast by a covered voter, as defined in §24.2-452, shall
be counted pursuant to the procedures set forth in this chapter if the voter is
found entitled to vote. The electoral board shall prepare an amended certified
abstract, which shall include the results of such ballots, and shall deliver
such abstract to the State Board by the business day prior to its meeting
pursuant to this title, and shall deliver a copy of such abstract to the
general registrar to be available for inspection when his office is open for
business.
D. C. Notwithstanding the
provisions of clause (i) of subsection B of §24.2-427, an absentee ballot
returned by a voter in compliance with §24.2-707 and this section who dies
prior to the counting of absentee ballots on election day shall be counted
pursuant to the procedures set forth in this chapter if the voter is found to
have been entitled to vote at the time that he returned the ballot.
