Virginia Code 24.2-536: Procedure when a vacancy in office occurs less than 75 days before primary date
Whenever, by reason of the death, resignation, or removal of the incumbent, a vacancy in any office occurs less than 75 but more than 45 days before the regular date for the holding of a primary, the properly constituted party authorities may permit the filing of declarations and petitions of candidacy for nomination for that office in the primary. Notice of the vacancy and the right to file declarations and petitions of candidacy for nomination to fill it shall be advertised by the party committee or committees in at least one newspaper of general circulation within the Commonwealth if it is an office filled by election by the people at large, and in the manner prescribed by the properly constituted party authorities in the case of all other offices. No declaration and petitions of candidacy shall be filed with the committee or committees until such advertisement is made, nor within 35 days prior to the date for holding the primary. Declarations and petitions of candidacy filed pursuant to this section shall comply in every respect, except for the time of filing, with the requirements established generally for such declarations and petitions in this article.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-536
- Board: means the State Board of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Election: means a general, primary, or special election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- political party: means an organization of citizens of the Commonwealth which, at either of the two preceding statewide general elections, received at least 10 percent of the total vote cast for any statewide office filled in that election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
If more than one person qualifies, the party chairman shall promptly certify their names to the State Board and the appropriate electoral boards as having qualified under the provisions of this section. The electoral boards having charge of the printing of the official ballots for the primary shall either:
1. Cause to be printed on the ballot the name of each person so certified; or
2. If the official ballots have already been printed, cause separate ballots to be printed for the office for which the persons have qualified pursuant to this section.
In the event that only one person qualifies as a candidate under the provisions of this section, the person so qualifying shall be declared the nominee of his party for that office and his name shall not be printed on the primary ballot.
In the event that no person qualifies as a candidate under the provisions of this section, or that the vacancy occurs less than 45 days before the primary, the appropriate committee of the political party shall determine the time and method of nominating its candidate for the office.
Code 1950, § 24-362; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-194; 1993, c. 641; 2010, cc. 449, 645.