HB 242

            
2020 SESSION

20102154D

HOUSE BILL NO. 242


Offered January 8, 2020


Prefiled December 30, 2019

A BILL to amend and reenact �� 24.2-705 and 24.2-710 of the 
 Code of Virginia and to repeal �� 24.2-705.1 and 24.2-705.2 of the Code of 
 Virginia, relating to absentee voting; emergency voting.
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Patron-- Sickles

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Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
 
 
1. That �� 24.2-705 and 24.2-710 of the Code of Virginia are 
 amended and reenacted as follows:
 
 
� 24.2-705. Emergency applications and absentee ballots for 
 individual emergencies.
 
 
A. Any 
 person registered and otherwise qualified to vote who 
 becomes incapacitated on or after the seventh day preceding an election 
 may request at any time prior to 2:00 p.m. on the day preceding the election 
 that an he be 
 permitted to vote by emergency absentee ballot application be delivered to him with the assistance of his designated 
 representative. A voter who becomes 
 hospitalized on or after the fourteenth day preceding the election and who is 
 unable, because of his condition, to request an absentee ballot earlier than 
 the seventh day preceding the election may request at any time prior to 2:00 
 p.m. on the day before an election that an emergency absentee ballot be 
 delivered to him in the hospital. For purposes of this section, 
 "incapacitated" means hospitalized, ill and confined to his 
 residence, bereaved by the death of a spouse, child, or parent, or otherwise 
 incapacitated by an emergency which is found by the general registrar to 
 justify providing an emergency ballot application; and "hospital" 
 means a hospital as defined in � 32.1-123 or 37.2-100 and any comparable 
 hospital in the District of Columbia or any state contiguous to Virginia The Department shall prescribe a form and the 
 instructions for submitting such a request to the general registrar that shows 
 that the voter requesting an emergency absentee ballot was unable to apply for 
 an absentee ballot by the deadline due to his hospitalization or illness, or 
 the hospitalization, illness, or death of a spouse, child, or parent, or other 
 emergency found to justify receipt of an emergency absentee ballot.
 
 
On receipt of the request, 
 the general registrar shall provide an emergency absentee ballot application to 
 the incapacitated voters designated representative who shall deliver the 
 application to the voter. If the voter is hospitalized, the delivery shall be 
 made to him at the hospital; and if the voter is otherwise incapacitated, the 
 delivery shall be made to him at his current residence address as shown on the 
 registration records. The representative designated by a voter for purposes of this 
 subsection shall be age 
 eighteen 18 or 
 older and shall not be an elected official, a candidate for elected office, or 
 the deputy, spouse, parent, or child of an elected official or candidate.
 
 
The application shall be 
 on a form prescribed by the State Board and shall require the applicant (i) to 
 state the cause of his incapacity, (ii) to state that he is unable to be 
 present at the polls on election day, and that he was either incapacitated on 
 or after the seventh day preceding the election or hospitalized on or after the 
 fourteenth day preceding the election and unable to request the application 
 earlier than the seventh day preceding the election, (iii) to designate a 
 representative to receive, deliver and return the ballot, and (iv) to provide 
 other information required by law for an absentee ballot application.
 
 
If the voter is 
 hospitalized, a hospital administrative official, a licensed physician 
 attending the applicant, or provider as defined in � 37.2-403, shall certify on 
 the form to the hospitalization of the applicant and the applicants inability 
 to be present at the polls on election day. If the voter is ill and confined to 
 his residence, a licensed physician, provider as defined in � 37.2-403, or an 
 accredited religious practitioner attending the applicant shall certify on the 
 form to the incapacity of the applicant and the applicants inability to be 
 present at the polls on election day. If the voter is bereaved, a licensed 
 physician, an accredited religious practitioner, or a funeral service licensee 
 (as defined in � 54.1-2800) shall certify on the form to the incapacity of the 
 applicant and the applicants inability to be present at the polls on election 
 day. If the voter is otherwise incapacitated as determined by the general registrar, 
 the general registrar shall certify on the form to the incapacity of the 
 applicant and the applicants inability to be present at the polls on election 
 day. The applicant requesting voter shall sign 
 the application form and state, subject to 
 felony penalties for making false statements pursuant to � 24.2-1016, that to 
 the best of his knowledge and belief the facts contained in the application form are true and correct. His 
 signature shall be witnessed by the designated representative, who shall sign and return the 
 completed application form to the office of the 
 general registrar no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the election. For the purposes of this section, "accredited 
 religious practitioner" means a person who has been trained in spiritual 
 healing or the other healing arts and has been so accredited by a formal 
 religious order. If the requesting voter 
 is blind or physically unable to sign the form, his designated representative 
 shall write on the signature line that the voter is blind or unable to sign his 
 form. 
 
 
On receipt of the completed 
 application form 
 and a determination of the qualification of the 
 applicant requesting voter 
 to vote, the general registrar shall provide, in accordance with the applicable 
 provisions of this chapter, an absentee ballot to the designated representative 
 for delivery to the incapacitated requesting voter.
 
 
The incapacitated requesting voter shall vote 
 the absentee ballot as provided by law and mark it in the presence of the designated 
 representative. The designated representative shall 
 complete a statement, subject to felony penalties for making false statements 
 pursuant to � 24.2-1016, that (i) he is the designated 
 representative of the incapacitated requesting voter; (ii) he 
 personally delivered the ballot to the voter who applied for it; (iii) in his 
 presence, the voter marked the ballot, the ballot was placed in the envelope 
 provided, the envelope was sealed, and the statement on its reverse side was 
 signed by the incapacitated requesting voter; and (iv) the 
 ballot was returned, under seal, to the general registrar at the registrars 
 office.
 
 
The ballot shall be counted only if the ballot is received by 
 the general registrar prior to the close of polls, and the general registrar 
 shall deliver the ballot to the officers of election at each appropriate 
 precinct pursuant to � 24.2-710.
 
 
B. A qualified 
 voter may vote absentee in person in the office of the general registrar 
 through 2:00 p.m. on the day immediately preceding the election by complying 
 with the requirements of � 24.2-643 and affirming that one of the following emergency 
 circumstances will prevent him from voting on election day:
 
 
1. After 12:00 p.m. on the 
 Saturday before the election, an obligation arose that requires the voter be 
 absent from his county or city on election day for (i) his business, 
 profession, or occupation; (ii) the hospitalization of the voter or a member of 
 his immediate family; or (iii) the death of a member of his immediate 
 family. For purposes of this subdivision, "immediate family" means 
 the child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, legal guardian, sibling, or spouse 
 of the voter.
 
 
2. The voter is an officer 
 of election who was assigned after 12:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the 
 election to work in a precinct other than his own on election day.
 
 
C. The Commissioner of 
 Elections may act administratively to facilitate absentee voting by qualified 
 voters who are emergency workers or utility 
 workers or who 
 otherwise respond to and offer assistance to an area in which a state of 
 emergency has been declared by an appropriate authority. These administrative 
 actions may include central issuance and acceptance of absentee ballots for 
 federal and state elections using the systems and procedures developed for 
 voters who are members of a uniformed service.
 
 
� 24.2-710. Further duties of electoral board and general 
 registrar; absentee voter applicant lists.
 
 
On receipt of an absentee ballot, the electoral board or 
 general registrar shall mark the date of receipt in the appropriate column 
 opposite the name and address of the voter on the absentee voter applicant list 
 maintained in the general registrars office. A board member or registrar shall 
 deposit the return envelope and the unopened ballot envelope in an appropriate 
 container provided for the purpose, in which they shall remain until the day of 
 the election, unless the registrar opts to open sealed ballot envelopes in 
 order to expedite the counting of absentee ballots in accordance with � 
 24.2-709.1.
 
 
On the day before the election, the general registrar shall 
 (i) make out in triplicate on a form prescribed by the State Board the absentee 
 voter applicant list containing the names of all persons who applied for an 
 absentee ballot through the third day before the election and (ii) by noon on 
 the day before the election, deliver two copies of the list to the electoral 
 board. The general registrar shall make out a supplementary list containing the 
 names of all persons voting absentee in person 
 pursuant to �� 24.2-705.1 and 24.2-705.2, or applying to 
 vote absentee pursuant to � 24.2-705, for delivery 
 by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. The supplementary list shall be 
 deemed part of the absentee voter applicant list and shall be prepared and 
 delivered in accordance with the instructions of the State Board. The general 
 registrar shall maintain one copy of the list in his office for two years as a 
 public record open for inspection upon request during regular office hours.
 
 
On the day before the election, the electoral board shall 
 deliver one copy of the list provided to it by the general registrar to the 
 chief officer of election for each precinct. The list shall be attested by the 
 secretary of the electoral board who shall be responsible for the delivery of 
 the attested lists to the chief officer of election for each precinct.
 
 
Absentee ballots shall be accepted only from voters whose 
 names appear on the attested list.
 
 
Before the polls close on the day of the election, the 
 electoral board shall deliver the absentee ballot containers to, and obtain a 
 receipt from, the officers of election at each appropriate precinct. Any ballot 
 returned to the electoral board or general registrar prior to the closing of 
 the polls, but after the ballot container has been delivered, shall be 
 delivered in an appropriate container to the officers of election at each 
 appropriate precinct. The containers shall be sealed prior to delivery to the 
 officers and shall contain the sealed absentee ballots, the accompanying return 
 envelopes, and a copy of the absentee voter applicant list for each precinct.
 
 
If the county or city uses a central absentee voter precinct 
 pursuant to � 24.2-712, the lists and containers shall be delivered, as 
 provided in this section, to the officers of election for the absentee 
 precinct.
 
 
Before noon on the day following the election, the general 
 registrar shall deliver all applications for absentee ballots for the election, 
 under seal, to the clerk of the circuit court for the county or city, except 
 that the general registrar may retain all applications for absentee ballots 
 until the electoral board has ascertained the results of the election pursuant 
 to � 24.2-671, and has determined the validity of and counted all provisional 
 ballots pursuant to � 24.2-653, at which point all applications shall then be 
 delivered, under seal, to the clerk of the circuit court for the county or 
 city. The clerk shall retain the sealed applications with the counted ballots.
 
 
The secretary of the electoral board shall deliver all 
 absentee ballots received after the election to the clerk of the circuit court.
 
 
Upon request, the State Board shall provide an electronic copy 
 of the absentee voter applicant list to any political party or candidate. Such 
 lists shall be used only for campaign and political purposes. In no event shall 
 any list furnished under this section contain (i) any voters social security 
 number or any part thereof, (ii) any voters day and month of birth, or (iii) 
 the residence address of any voter who has provided a post office box address 
 to be used on public lists pursuant to � 24.2-418.
 
 
2. That �� 24.2-705.1 and 24.2-705.2 of the Code of Virginia 
 are repealed.