                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

APPOINTMENT; TERMS; COMMISSIONER OF ELECTIONS; PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES (§
24.2-102)

A. The State Board of Elections is continued and shall consist of five members
appointed by the Governor from the qualified voters of the Commonwealth, subject
to confirmation by the General Assembly. In the appointment of the Board,
representation shall be given to each of the political parties having the
highest and next highest number of votes in the Commonwealth for Governor at the
last preceding gubernatorial election. Three Board members shall be of the
political party that cast the highest number of votes for Governor at that
election. When the Governor was not elected as the candidate of a political
party, representation shall be given to each of the political parties having the
highest and next highest number of members of the General Assembly at the time
of the appointment and three Board members shall be of the political party
having the highest number of members in the General Assembly. Each political
party entitled to an appointment may make and file recommendations with the
Governor for the appointment. Its recommendations shall contain the names of at
least three qualified voters of the Commonwealth. Appointments shall be made
with due consideration of geographical representation, and no two Board members
shall reside in the same congressional district.
			After the initial staggering of terms, Board members shall serve terms of
four years, which shall begin on February 1 of the year of the appointment.
Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired terms. No member shall be eligible
for more than two successive four-year terms. A member appointed for an
unexpired term may be appointed for the two succeeding four-year terms.
			Each year the Governor shall designate one Board member to be the chair of
the Board and one Board member to be the vice-chair. The chair and vice-chair
shall be members of opposite political parties.
			No member of the Board shall be eligible to offer for or hold an office to be
filled in whole or in part by qualified voters in the Commonwealth. If a member
resigns to offer for or hold such office, the vacancy shall be filled as
provided in this section.
			No member of the Board shall serve as the chairman of a state, local, or
district level political party committee or as a paid or volunteer worker in the
campaign of a candidate for nomination or election to an office filled by
election in whole or in part by qualified voters in the Commonwealth.

B. The Governor shall appoint a Commissioner of Elections, subject to
confirmation by the General Assembly, to head the Department of Elections and to
act as its principal administrative officer. The Commissioner shall be appointed
to a term of four years, which shall begin on July 1 of the year following a
gubernatorial election. The Commissioner shall be a qualified voter of the
Commonwealth.
			The Commissioner shall receive the salary fixed by law. He may employ the
personnel required to carry out the duties required by law and imposed by the
Board.
			The Commissioner shall not be eligible to offer for or hold an office to be
filled in whole or in part by qualified voters in the Commonwealth. His
candidacy for or election to such office shall vacate his position as
Commissioner, and the Governor shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
			The Governor shall not appoint as Commissioner (i) any person who is the
spouse of a member of the Board or of a person seeking election to an office or
holding an elective office that is filled in whole or in part by qualified
voters in the Commonwealth; (ii) any person, or the spouse of any person, who is
the grandparent, parent, sibling, child, or grandchild of a member of the Board;
or (iii) any person, or the spouse of any person, who is the grandparent,
parent, sibling, child, or grandchild of a person seeking election to an office
or holding an elective office that is filled in whole or in part by qualified
voters in the Commonwealth. The Commissioner shall submit his resignation to the
Governor on the date that any such person files as a candidate for election to
an office that is filled in whole or in part by qualified voters in the
Commonwealth.
			The Commissioner shall not serve as the chairman of a state, local, or
district level political party committee or as a paid or volunteer worker in the
campaign of a candidate for nomination or election to an office filled by
election in whole or in part by qualified voters in the Commonwealth.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 24-24, 24-345.10; 1952, c. 509; 1956, c. 392; 1970, c.
462, § 24.1-18; 1973, c. 30; 1975, c. 515; 1977, c. 576; 1980, c. 728; 1984, c.
444; 1993, c. 641; 2007, c. 350; 2013, c. 542; 2020, cc. 353, 619.