                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTER PETITIONS TO CALL FOR REFERENDUM ELECTIONS (§
24.2-684.1)

In addition to other applicable requirements of law, the following requirements
shall apply whenever a referendum election is initiated by voter petitions. The
requirements of this section shall be construed to override any requirement of
general or special law in conflict with this section, except requirements set
out in charter provisions to govern the exercise of recall, initiative, or
referendum powers in a county, city, or town.
		The requirements of this section shall apply to petitions calling for any
referendum which is ordered to be held on or after January 1, 1994.

1. Prior to circulating any petition for signature, an individual shall file a
copy of the petition with the clerk of the circuit court for the county or city
in which the referendum will be held. The individual shall be a qualified voter
of the county or city and shall file, with the petition copy, a statement giving
his name; residence address and, if different, his mailing address; and the name
of the organization, if any, which he represents in circulating the petition.
The copy of the petition shall be filed on or after the effective date of the
law which authorizes the referendum for which the petition will be circulated.
The clerk shall certify, within 10 days of such filing, that he has received and
accepted the petition copy and statement.

2. If the referendum will be held only in a town, the copy and statement shall
be filed with the clerk of the circuit court for the county in which the town,
or larger portion of the town, is located, and the individual shall be a
qualified voter of the town. If the referendum will be held only in part of a
county, city, or town, the copy and statement shall be filed with the clerk of
the appropriate circuit court, and the individual shall be a qualified voter of
the part of the county, city, or town in which the referendum will be held. If
the referendum will be held in more than one county, city, or town, the copy and
statement shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court of any one of the
localities in which the referendum will be held, and the individual shall be a
qualified voter of that locality.

3. Each qualified voter signing a petition shall date his signature.

4. Each such voter may provide on the petition the last four digits of his
social security number, if any; however, noncompliance with this requirement
shall not be cause to invalidate the voter&#8217;s signature on the petition.

5. Each signature on the petition shall be witnessed by a person who is
qualified to vote, or qualified to register to vote, in the referendum for which
he is circulating the petition and whose affidavit to that effect, including his
name, residence address and, if different, his mailing address, and the name of
the organization, if any, that he represents in circulating the petition,
appears on each page, front and back, of the petition.

6. The petition shall be circulated, completed, and filed with the appropriate
court or authority within nine months of the date of the certification by the
clerk of the circuit court pursuant to subdivision 1.

7. Each qualified voter signing the petition shall have been validly registered
in the jurisdiction for which the petition is circulated at the time of signing
the petition and at the time of validating the petition signatures.

8. The number of voters registered on January 1 of the year of the certification
by the clerk of the circuit court pursuant to subdivision 1 shall be the basis
for determining the number of signatures required on the petition in all cases
in which the law authorizing the referendum provides that the number of
signatures required for the petition is a percentage of the number of registered
voters.

9. If the court or authority finds that the filed petitions are valid and
sufficient under law, it shall proceed, as provided by law, to order or call for
the referendum election. If the court or authority finds that the filed
petitions are invalid for any cause, the petitions and the signatures on them
shall be invalid for all purposes. The invalidity of one or more signatures on a
petition page shall not be cause to invalidate the entire petition page. If the
circulators of the petitions fail to file within the nine-month period provided
in subdivision 6, the petitions and the signatures on them shall be invalid for
all purposes.

HISTORY: 1993, c. 996, § 24.1-165.3; 1993, c. 641; 2000, cc. 232, 252; 2011,
cc. 333, 520.