                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION ON PROPOSED QUESTIONS TO BE SUBMITTED TO VOTERS (§
30-19.10)

Whenever a statewide referendum on a matter other than a constitutional
amendment is submitted to the voters by the General Assembly, the State Board of
Elections shall cause to be printed and distributed to the general registrar of
each county and city, not less than ninety days prior to the election, copies of
information about the referendum to be placed at each registration site in
sufficient number to provide a copy to any interested person, and to election
officials to be posted at the polling places on the day of the election. The
State Board of Elections also shall cause the information to be published by
paid advertisement in each daily newspaper with an average daily circulation of
more than 50,000 in Virginia, and published in Virginia or in a contiguous state
or district, once during the week preceding the final day for registration and
once during the week preceding the referendum.
		The information shall contain the ballot question and either (i) a neutral
explanation of not more than 500 words on the proposed question, or (ii) for any
bond referendum, a fiscal impact statement. The neutral explanation or the
fiscal impact statement shall be presented in plain English, shall be limited to
a neutral explanation, and shall not present arguments by either proponents or
opponents of the proposal. The fiscal impact statement shall include
descriptions of the need for and anticipated uses of the bond proceeds. The
Division of Legislative Services, in consultation with such agencies of state
government as may be appropriate, including the Office of the Attorney General,
shall prepare the neutral explanation as part of the legislation authorizing the
referendum. The staff of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate
Committee on Finance and Appropriations shall each prepare a fiscal impact
statement for any bond referendum and assist the Division of Legislative
Services in preparing the explanation as part of the legislation authorizing the
referendum.
		For purposes of this section and § 30-19.9, &#8220;plain English&#8221; means
written in nontechnical, readily understandable language using words of common
everyday usage and avoiding legal terms and phrases or other terms and words of
art whose usage or special meaning primarily is limited to a particular field or
profession.
		Any failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall not affect the
validity of the statewide referendum.

HISTORY: 1996, c. 297; 2007, c. 402.