                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VOTING EQUIPMENT TO BE IN PLAIN VIEW; OFFICERS AND OTHERS NOT PERMITTED TO SEE
ACTUAL VOTING; UNLOCKING COUNTER COMPARTMENT OF EQUIPMENT, ETC (§ 24.2-638)

During the election, the exterior of the voting equipment and every part of the
polling place shall be in plain view of the officers of election.
		No voting or counting machines shall be removed from the plain view of the
officers of election or from the polling place at any time during the election
and through the determination of the vote as provided in § 24.2-657, except as
provided in subsection D of § 24.2-649.1. In the case of an emergency that
makes a polling place unusable or inaccessible, voting or counting machines may
be removed to an alternative polling place pursuant to the provisions of
subsection D of § 24.2-310.
		The equipment shall be placed at least four feet from any table where an
officer of election is working or seated. The officers of election shall not
themselves be, or permit any other person to be, in any position or near any
position that will permit them to observe how a voter votes or has voted.
		One of the officers shall inspect the face of the voting machine after each
voter has cast his vote and verify that the ballots on the face of the machine
are in their proper places and that the machine has not been damaged. During an
election, the door or other covering of the counter compartment of the voting or
counting machine shall not be unlocked or open or the counters exposed except
for good and sufficient reasons, a statement of which shall be made and signed
by the officers of election and attached to the statement of results. No person
shall be permitted in or about the polling place except the voting equipment
custodian, vendor, or contractor technicians and other persons authorized by
this title.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 24-305; 1962, c. 260; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-215; 1985, c.
458; 1993, c. 641; 2004, cc. 978, 993, 1006, 1010; 2009, c. 494; 2014, cc. 540,
576; 2016, cc. 18, 492; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 163.