Virginia Code 24.2-611: Form and signing of pollbooks; records of persons voting; electronic pollbooks.
A. The following oath shall be on a form prescribed by the State Board, administered to all officers of election, and kept by the officers of election with the pollbook:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-611
- Board: means the State Board of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Department: means the state agency headed by the Commissioner of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Election: means a general, primary, or special election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- General election: means an election held in the Commonwealth on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November or on the first Tuesday in May for the purpose of filling offices regularly scheduled by law to be filled at those times. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- General registrar: means the person appointed by the electoral board of a county or city pursuant to § Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- Oath: includes affirmation. See Virginia Code 1-228
- Officer of election: means a person appointed by an electoral board pursuant to § Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Polling place: means the structure that contains the one place provided for each precinct at which the qualified voters who are residents of the precinct may vote. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Precinct: means the territory designated by the governing body of a county, city, or town to be served by one polling place. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Qualified voter: means a person who is entitled to vote pursuant to the Constitution of Virginia and who is (i) 18 years of age on or before the day of the election or qualified pursuant to § Virginia Code 24.2-101
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- voter registration system: means the automated central record-keeping system for all voters registered within the Commonwealth that is maintained as provided in Article 2 (§ Virginia Code 24.2-101
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will perform the duties for this election according to law and the best of my ability, and that I will studiously endeavor to prevent fraud, deceit, and abuse in conducting this election.”
The oath shall be administered to each officer of election by the general registrar, a member of the electoral board, or an officer of election designated by the general registrar and secretary of the electoral board, who shall be so identified on the form. The oath shall be signed by each officer of election and the person administering the oath. The pollbook shall be marked to identify the election for which it is used.
B. The Department shall provide the pollbook pursuant to subdivision A 7 of § 24.2-404. The pollbook shall (i) provide a space for the officer of election to record the name and consecutive number of the voter at the time he offers to vote and (ii) be retained in accordance with the provisions governing pollbooks in this title. The Department shall make available a numerical check sheet required to be used with pollbooks in printed form to determine the consecutive number to be recorded with the name of the voter by the officer of election. In electronic pollbooks, the consecutive number shall be entered automatically when the officer of election records that the voter has voted. When the name and number of the last qualified voter have been entered on the pollbook, the officer of election responsible for that pollbook shall sign a statement on the check sheet, or on a separate form if an electronic pollbook is used, certifying the number of qualified registrants who have voted. The Department shall provide instructions to the local electoral boards, general registrars, and officers of election for the conduct of the election and for procedures for entering a voting record for each voter and recording each voter’s name, including voters unable to enter the polling place, and for verifying the accurate entry of the voting record for each registrant on the Virginia Voter Registration System. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, for any election held on or after November 1, 2020, all pollbooks provided by the Department shall be in electronic form only.
C. The Department shall incorporate safeguards to assure that the records of the election, including the pollbook, voter count sheets, or other alternative records, will provide promptly an accurate and secure record of those who have voted.
D. Any locality may expend its own funds to purchase electronic pollbooks that have been approved for use in elections by the State Board.
E. The general registrar shall produce a paper copy of the pollbook specified in subsection B for each precinct in any primary or general election.
F. In the event that the electronic pollbooks for a precinct fail to operate properly and no alternative voter list or pollbook is available, the officers of election, in accordance with the instructions and materials approved by the State Board, shall (i) maintain a written list of the persons voting and (ii) provide to each person voting a provisional ballot to be cast as provided in § 24.2-653.
Code 1950, § 24-257; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-135; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 119; 1976, c. 616; 1980, c. 639; 1981, c. 425; 1993, c. 641; 1994, c. 321; 1999, c. 810; 2000, c. 2; 2001, c. 839; 2002, cc. 66, 216, 785, 819; 2003, c. 1015; 2008, cc. 88, 424; 2010, c. 812; 2011, c. 810; 2020, c. 297.