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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>59745</law_id><section_number>24.2-537</section_number><catch_line>Procedure when nominee by default dies or withdraws or nomination is set aside prior to primary</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="24.2">Elections</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="5">Candidates for Office</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="4">Conduct of Primaries</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> If any person who would have been nominated as the <span class="dictionary">candidate</span> of a <span class="dictionary">political party</span> for any office in any <span class="dictionary">general election</span> by reason of the <span class="dictionary">fact</span> that he was the only person who filed the required declaration of and <span class="dictionary">petition</span> for candidacy dies or withdraws as the party <span class="dictionary">candidate</span>, or his nomination is set aside for any reason, 45 days or more before the day on which the <span class="dictionary">primary</span> would have been held if two or more <span class="dictionary">candidates</span> had qualified, the appropriate committee of the <span class="dictionary">political party</span> shall determine the time and method of nominating its <span class="dictionary">candidate</span> for the office. <a id="paragraph-218795" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/24.2-537/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> If the party committee determines that the party&#x2019;s nominee shall be elected at the scheduled primary, any person desiring to become a <span class="dictionary">candidate</span> for nomination by the party at that primary who is otherwise qualified may file a declaration of and <span class="dictionary">petition</span> for his candidacy with the proper chairman of his party committee. No person whose nomination has been set aside for <span class="dictionary">fraud</span> knowingly participated in by the <span class="dictionary">candidate</span>, or other person who knowingly participated in such <span class="dictionary">fraud</span>, shall be deemed qualified. The declaration and <span class="dictionary">petition</span> shall comply in every respect with the requirements established generally for such declarations and <span class="dictionary">petitions</span> in this article, except that the declaration and <span class="dictionary">petition</span> shall be filed at least 35 days before the day on which the primary is to be held.
			If more than one person qualifies, the party chairman shall promptly certify their names to the <span class="dictionary">State Board</span> and the appropriate <span class="dictionary">electoral boards</span> as having qualified under the provisions of this section. The <span class="dictionary">electoral boards</span> having charge of the printing of the official ballots for the <span class="dictionary">primary election</span> shall either: <a id="paragraph-218796" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/24.2-537/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Cause to be printed thereon the name of every person so certified; or <a id="paragraph-218797" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/24.2-537/#B1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> If the official ballots have already been printed, cause separate ballots to be printed for the office for which two or more persons have qualified pursuant to the provisions of this section.
				In the event that only one person qualifies as a <span class="dictionary">candidate</span> in accordance with the provisions of this section, the person so qualifying shall be declared the nominee of his party for that office and his name shall not be printed on the primary ballot.
				In the event that no person qualifies as a <span class="dictionary">candidate</span> pursuant to the provisions of this section, or that the death or withdrawal or setting aside of candidacy of any such party nominee should occur at a time which is less than 45 days prior to any such primary, the appropriate committee of the <span class="dictionary">political party</span> shall determine the time and method of nominating its <span class="dictionary">candidate</span> for the office. <a id="paragraph-218798" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/24.2-537/#B2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> No party shall nominate any person whose nomination has been set aside for <span class="dictionary">fraud</span> knowingly participated in by the <span class="dictionary">candidate</span>, or any other person who knowingly participated in such <span class="dictionary">fraud</span>. <a id="paragraph-218799" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/24.2-537/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 24-391; 1970, c. 462, &#xA7; 24.1-195; 1983, c. 483; 1993, c. 641; 2010, cc. 449, 645.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
