A. Whenever a registered voter changes his place of residence within the Commonwealth, he shall promptly notify any general registrar of the address of his new residence. Such notice may be made in person, in writing, by return of the voter registration card noting the new address, or on a form approved by the State Board of Elections, which may be electronic. The notice in writing may be provided by mail or by facsimile and shall be signed by the voter unless he is physically unable to sign, in which case his own mark acknowledged by a witness shall be sufficient signature. Notice may be provided by electronic means as authorized by the State Board and signed by the voter in a manner consistent with the provisions of § 24.2-416.7 and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (§ 59.1-479 et seq.). The fact that a voter provides an address on a candidate or referendum petition that differs from the address for the voter on the voter registration system shall not be sufficient notice to change the voter's registration address. Any statements made by any voter applying for transfer are subject to felony penalties for making a false statement pursuant to § 24.2-1016.
B. If the voter has moved within the same county or city, on receipt of the notification, the general registrar for that county or city shall (i) enter the new address on the registration record; (ii) if satisfied that the registered voter has moved into another precinct within the same county or city, transfer the registration of the voter to that precinct; and (iii) send the voter confirmation documents. This transfer may be entered in the registration records at any time the registration records are not closed pursuant to § 24.2-416.
C. Any request for transfer or change of address within the Commonwealth delivered to any registrar shall be forwarded to the general registrar for the city or county in the Commonwealth where the voter now resides. When forwarding said notice, or upon request from the registrar for the county or city where the voter now resides, the registrar for the county or city where the voter formerly resided shall forward the original application for registration to the registrar for the voter's new locality.
D. Upon receipt of the voter's original registration application, and notice as specified in subsection A of this section indicating the voter's current residence, the registrar for the county or city in which the voter currently resides shall: (i) enter the new address on the registration record; (ii) if satisfied that the registered voter has moved into a precinct within that county or city, transfer the registration of the voter to that precinct; (iii) send the voter confirmation documents; and (iv) through the Virginia voter registration system, notify the registrar of the locality where the voter formerly resided that the registration has been transferred. This transfer may be entered in the registration records at any time the registration records are not closed pursuant to § 24.2-416.
E. If the original registration application is no longer available to the registrar in the city or county where the voter formerly resided, either of the following shall be sent to and accepted by the registrar in the city or county where the voter now resides in lieu of such application: (i) an unsigned voter card (or conversion card) used as the voter record upon the creation of the statewide voter registration system or (ii) a replacement record provided by the Department to replace damaged files in the registrar's office. If no other record is available, then the registrar of the voter's former locality shall provide written notification to the registrar of the locality in which the voter now resides that none of the required documents are available. In this instance only, the registrar of the locality in which the voter now resides shall copy the voter's record from the Virginia voter registration system and use that record in lieu of the original voter registration application. Any complete voter registration application on a form previously authorized for use in Virginia shall be valid for the purposes of continuing or transferring a voter's registration within the Commonwealth.
Code 1950, § 24-85; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-52; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 247; 1977, c. 490; 1993, c. 641; 2000, c. 857; 2001, cc. 615, 625; 2002, c. 279; 2003, c. 1015; 2013, cc. 520, 684; 2015, c. 740.
Structure Code of Virginia
Chapter 4 - Voter Registration
§ 24.2-400. Persons entitled to register and vote
§ 24.2-401. Persons moving from precinct
§ 24.2-402. Persons moving from Commonwealth fewer than thirty days before presidential election
§ 24.2-403. Persons under 18 years of age
§ 24.2-403.1. (Effective October 1, 2022) Preregistration of persons 16 years of age or older
§ 24.2-404. (Effective until October 1, 2022) Duties of Department of Elections
§ 24.2-404. (Effective October 1, 2022) Duties of Department of Elections
§ 24.2-404.3. Duty of Department of Elections; verification of registered voter lists
§ 24.2-404.4. Exchange of registered voter lists with other states
§ 24.2-405. Lists of registered voters
§ 24.2-406. Lists of persons voting at elections
§ 24.2-407. Statement for persons receiving lists of persons registered or voting; penalties
§ 24.2-407.1. Prohibition on disclosure of social security numbers or parts thereof
§ 24.2-410. Clerks of circuit courts to furnish lists of certain adjudications
§ 24.2-410.1. Citizenship status; Department of Motor Vehicles to furnish lists of noncitizens
§ 24.2-410.2. Security of the Virginia voter registration system
§ 24.2-411. Office of the general registrar
§ 24.2-411.2. State-designated voter registration agencies
§ 24.2-411.3. Registration of Department of Motor Vehicles customers
§ 24.2-412. Other locations and times for voter registration
§ 24.2-413. Accessible registration locations
§ 24.2-414. Final registration day
§ 24.2-414.1. Closing time of registration sites on final day
§ 24.2-415. Notice of times and locations for registration
§ 24.2-415.1. Persons authorized to receive voter registration applications
§ 24.2-416. Closing registration records before elections
§ 24.2-416.1. Voter registration by mail
§ 24.2-416.2. Mail voter registration application forms
§ 24.2-416.3. Distribution of mail voter registration application forms
§ 24.2-416.4. Return of mail voter registration applications
§ 24.2-416.5. Social security number or parts thereof not to be disclosed
§ 24.2-416.7. Application for voter registration by electronic means
§ 24.2-417. Persons to be registered
§ 24.2-417.1. Registration residence requirements; presumptions in certain cases
§ 24.2-418. Application for registration
§ 24.2-418.1. Receipt for voter registration applicants
§ 24.2-419. Extended time for certain persons to register by mail
§ 24.2-420.1. (Effective October 1, 2022) Extended time for persons to register in person
§ 24.2-422. Appeal of person denied registration
§ 24.2-423. Notice of change of name of registered voter
§ 24.2-424. Change of registered voter's address within the Commonwealth; pilot project
§ 24.2-428.1. Other procedures for assigning registered voters to inactive status
§ 24.2-428.2. Return of registered voter to active status
§ 24.2-430. Appeal from decision of registrar
§ 24.2-431. Petition to court objecting to registration
§ 24.2-432. Notice to person objected to and decision of court
§ 24.2-433. Appeal from decision of court
§ 24.2-434. Presumption if petition not brought within six months of registration
§ 24.2-435. Cancellation records to be retained for specified periods
§ 24.2-445. Registration records controlling in event of conflict
§ 24.2-446. Reconstruction of destroyed registration records