                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ELECTORAL BOARD TO MEET AND ASCERTAIN RESULTS; CONCLUSIVENESS OF RESULTS (§
24.2-671)

A. Each electoral board shall meet at the clerk&#8217;s or general
registrar&#8217;s office of the county or city for which they are appointed at
or before 5:00 p.m. on the day after any election. The board may adjourn to
another room of sufficient size in a public building to ascertain the results,
and may adjourn as needed, not to exceed 10 calendar days from the date of the
election unless an extension has been granted to accommodate a risk-limiting
audit conducted pursuant to &#xA7; 24.2-671.2. Written directions to the
location of any room other than the clerk&#8217;s or general registrar&#8217;s
office where the board will meet shall be posted at the doors of the
clerk&#8217;s and general registrar&#8217;s offices prior to the beginning of
the meeting.
			If the electoral board has exercised the option provided by &#xA7; 24.2-668
for delivery of the election materials to the office of the general registrar on
the night of the election, the electoral board shall meet at the office of the
general registrar at or before 5:00 p.m. on the day after any election.

B. The board shall open the returns delivered by the officers and ascertain from
the returns the total votes in the county or city, or town in a town election,
for each candidate and for and against each question and complete the abstract
of votes cast at such election, as provided for in &#xA7; 24.2-675. For any
office in which no person was elected by write-in votes, and for which the total
number of write-in votes for that office is less than (i) 10 percent of the
total number of votes cast for that office and (ii) the total number of votes
cast for the candidate receiving the most votes, the electoral board shall
ascertain the total votes for each write-in candidate for the office within one
week following the election. For offices for which the electoral board issues
the certificate of election, the result so ascertained, signed and attested,
shall be conclusive and shall not thereafter be subject to challenge except as
specifically provided in Chapter 8 (&#xA7; 24.2-800 et seq.).
			Once the result is so ascertained, the secretary of the electoral board shall
deliver one copy of each statement of results to the general registrar to be
available for inspection when his office is open for business. The secretary
shall then return all pollbooks, any printed inspection and return sheets, and
one copy of each statement of results to the clerk.

C. A report of any changes made by the local electoral board to the unofficial
results ascertained by the officers of election or any subsequent change to the
official abstract of votes made by the local electoral board shall be forwarded
to the State Board of Elections and the explanation of such change shall be
posted on the State Board website.

D. Each political party and each independent candidate on the ballot, or each
primary candidate, shall be entitled to have representatives present when the
local electoral board meets to ascertain the results of the election. Each such
party and candidate shall be entitled to have at least as many representatives
present as there are teams of officials working to ascertain the results, and
the room in which the local electoral board meets shall be of sufficient size
and configuration to allow the representatives reasonable access and proximity
to view the ballots as the teams of officials work to ascertain the results. The
representatives and observers lawfully present shall be prohibited from
interfering with the officials in any way. It is unlawful for any person to
knowingly possess any firearm as defined in &#xA7; 18.2-308.2:2 within 40 feet
of any building, or part thereof, used as a meeting place for the local
electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an
election, unless such person is (a) any law-enforcement officer or any retired
law-enforcement officer qualified pursuant to subsection C of &#xA7;
18.2-308.016; (b) occupying his own private property that falls within 40 feet
of a polling place; or (c) an armed security officer, licensed pursuant to
Article 4 (&#xA7; 9.1-138 et seq.) of Chapter 1 of Title 9.1, whose employment
or performance of his duties occurs within 40 feet of any building, or part
thereof, used as a meeting place for the local electoral board while the
electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 24-271, 24-272; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-146; 1973, c. 30;
1981, c. 425; 1991, c. 388; 1992, c. 329; 1993, c. 641; 1996, cc. 8, 223; 2003,
c. 1015; 2005, c. 824; 2006, c. 689; 2014, c. 486; 2018, c. 536; 2021, Sp. Sess.
I, c. 459; 2022, cc. 443, 444; 2024, c. 738.