The electoral board or general registrar shall cause to be made, in the presence of at least one member of the board or a designee of the board, one or more packages of ballots for each precinct in the election district. Each package shall contain a number of ballots determined by the board or general registrar. Each of these packages shall be securely sealed in the presence of a member of the board or such designated person so that the ballots shall be invisible, and so that the packages cannot be readily opened without detection. On each of the packages shall be endorsed the name of the precinct for which it is intended and the number of ballots therein contained. Thereafter the packages designated for each precinct shall be delivered to the general registrar and remain in his exclusive possession until delivered by him, or by a board member, a designee of the board, or an assistant registrar, to the officers of election of each precinct as provided in § 24.2-621.
There shall be sufficient ballots for those offering to vote absentee delivered to the general registrar by the deadline stated in § 24.2-612. Any such ballots remaining unused at the close of the polls on election day shall be sent by the general registrar to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city.
Code 1950, §§ 24-226, 24-227; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-119; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 119; 1972, c. 620; 1982, c. 650; 1984, c. 480; 1993, c. 641; 1997, c. 460; 2016, cc. 18, 492.