Bill Text: VA HB2682 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-02-12 - Passed by indefinitely in Privileges and Elections (8-Y 6-N) [HB2682 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HB2682-Introduced.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 in any manner except as prescribed by law shall be void. Absentee ballots shall be returned to the general registrar before the closing of the polls. 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 the inner envelope containing the voted ballot is imperfectly sealed so long as the outside envelope containing the ballot envelope is sealed.
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 ballots 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 an absentee voter who is eligible for an
absentee ballot under subdivision 2 of §24.2-700 shall be counted pursuant to
the procedures set forth in this chapter and,
if the voter is found entitled to vote, included in the election
returns. 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.
C. D. 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.