                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

GENERAL RECOUNT PROCEDURES (§ 24.2-802.2)

A. For the purposes of this section:
			&#8220;Overvote&#8221; means a ballot on which a voter casts a vote for a
greater number of candidates or positions than the number for which he was
lawfully entitled to vote and no vote shall be counted with respect to that
office or issue.
			&#8220;Undervote&#8221; means a ballot on which a voter casts a vote for a
lesser number of candidates or positions than the number for which he was
lawfully entitled to vote.

B. The recount of the votes shall be based on votes cast in the election and
shall not take into account (i) any absentee ballots or provisional ballots
sought to be cast but ruled invalid and not cast in the election, (ii) ballots
cast only for administrative or test purposes and voided by the officers of
election, or (iii) ballots spoiled by a voter and replaced with a new ballot.

C. The eligibility of any voter to have voted shall not be an issue in a
recount. Commencing upon the filing of the recount, nothing shall prevent the
discovery or disclosure of any evidence that could be used pursuant to &#xA7;
24.2-803 in contesting the results of an election.

D. There shall be only one recount of the vote in each precinct. The recount of
the vote shall be conducted as follows:

   1. For paper ballots, the recount officials shall hand count the paper ballots
   using the standards promulgated by the State Board pursuant to &#xA7;
   24.2-802.

   2. For ballot scanner machines, the recount officials shall rerun all the
   machine-readable ballots through a scanner programmed to count only the votes
   for the parties or issue in question in the recount and to set aside all
   ballots containing write-in votes, overvotes, and undervotes. The ballots that
   are set aside, any ballots not accepted by the scanner, and any ballots for
   which a scanner could not be programmed to meet the programming requirements
   of this subdivision, shall be hand counted using the standards promulgated by
   the State Board pursuant to &#xA7; 24.2-802. If the total number of
   machine-readable ballots reported as counted by the scanner plus the total
   number of ballots set aside by the scanner do not equal the total number of
   ballots rerun through the scanner, then all ballots cast on ballot scanner
   machines for that precinct shall be set aside to be counted by hand using the
   standards promulgated by the State Board pursuant to &#xA7; 24.2-802. Prior to
   running the machine-readable ballots through the ballot scanner machine, the
   recount officials shall ensure that logic and accuracy tests have been
   successfully performed on each scanner after the scanner has been programmed.
   The result calculated for ballots accepted by the ballot scanner machine
   during the recount shall be considered correct for those machine-readable
   ballots unless the court finds sufficient cause to rule otherwise.

   3. Prior to the conclusion of the recount in each precinct, the recount
   officials shall segregate all ballots for which there is a question regarding
   the ballot&#8217;s validity.

E. At the conclusion of the recount of each precinct, the recount officials
shall write down the number of valid ballots cast, this number being obtained
from the ballots cast in the precinct, or from the ballots cast as shown on the
statement of results if the ballots cannot be found, for each of the two
candidates or for and against the question. They shall submit the ballots or the
statement of results used, as to the validity of which questions exist, to the
court. The written statement of any one recount official challenging a ballot
shall be sufficient to require its submission to the court. If, on all ballot
scanners, the number of persons voting in the election, or the number of votes
cast for the office or on the question, totals more than the number of names on
the pollbooks of persons voting on the voting machines, the figures recorded by
the machines shall be accepted as correct.

F. At the conclusion of the recount of all precincts, after allowing the parties
to inspect the questioned ballots, and after hearing arguments, the court shall
rule on the validity of all questioned ballots and votes. The court may not
consider the validity of any ballots not set aside prior to the conclusion of
the recount in each precinct. After settling all matters pertaining to the
recount of the vote as raised by the parties, the court shall certify to the
State Board and the electoral board (i) the vote for each party to the recount
and declare the person who received the higher number of votes to be nominated
or elected, as appropriate, or (ii) the votes for and against the question and
declare the outcome of the referendum. The Department shall post on the Internet
any and all changes made during the recount to the results as previously
certified by it pursuant to &#xA7; 24.2-679.

G. The recount proceeding shall be final and not subject to appeal.

H. Except in the case of a recount of an election for Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, or Attorney General, or for elector of President or Vice President of
the United States, if the court finds that each party to the recount has
received an equal number of votes, it shall issue a writ promptly ordering a
special election be held to determine which candidate is elected to the office.

HISTORY: 2020, cc. 284, 500, 886.