HB646: Candidates; qualification considered a case decision and subject to Administrative Process Act.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 24.2-501 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 24.2-501. Statement of qualification as requirement of candidacy.

It shall be a requirement of candidacy for any office of the Commonwealth, or of its governmental units, that a person must file a written statement under oath, on a form prescribed by the State Board, that he is qualified to vote for and hold the office for which he is a candidate. Every candidate for election to statewide office, the United States House of Representatives, or the General Assembly shall file the statement with the State Board. Every candidate for any other office shall file the statement with the general registrar of the county or city where he resides. Each general registrar shall transmit to the State Board, immediately after the filing deadline, a list of the candidates who have filed statements of qualification. The action of the State Board in accepting or failing to accept the statement of qualification of any candidate shall be considered a case decision as defined in § 2.2-4001 and proceedings related thereto shall be conducted pursuant to Article 3 (§ 2.2-4018 et seq.) of the Administrative Process Act. Any proposed candidate whose statement of qualification was not accepted, or the opponent of a candidate whose statement of qualification was accepted, shall have standing to challenge the action of the State Board in such instance.

The candidate may state, as part of his statement of qualification, how he would like his name to appear on the ballot; however, all names printed on the ballot shall meet the criteria established by the State Board.