Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Charles City County (Va.) Election Records, 1795-1939 circa. Local government records collection, Charles City County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

A portion of the election records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Charles City County in an undated accession. Lists of voters volumes and associated records came to the Library of Virginia in a 2023 transfer of court papers from Charles City County under accession number 54001.

Processing Information

Loose election records, 1795-1896, were processed by Library of Virginia staff.

Lists of Voters and loose voter registration records, 1902-1939 circa, were processed by M. Long. The loose records were originally included between the covers and pages of the volumes at the time of transfer. These records were removed from the volumes and filed in a separate box of voter registration records during processing.

Encoded by M. Long: July 2025.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, voting eligibility in Virginia was tied to land ownership. According to Virginia law, an eligible voter had to be an adult white man and had to own a specific amount of real property, an amount that differed for town and country residents. In 1850, the passage of a new state constitution moved away from property ownership in favor of place of residency as a qualification for enfranchisement. The secret ballot and supervisory Electoral boards were instituted following the Civil War. In 1902, another new state constitution was passed with the purpose of maintaining white suffrage while eliminating African-American voters by means of literacy tests as well as property and poll tax requirements. This constitution and its discriminatory election policies officially remained in effect until 1971.

Ballots indicate either the candidates running for office or is a formal record of a person's vote. Polls are lists of persons who voted in each election in each precinct. Polls are also heads of household, usually free white males, responsible for payment of taxes, or eligible to vote.

Because states had jurisdiction over maintaining their election returns, votes were often recorded in deed books or poll books, which listed the name of the voter as well as the candidate for whom they voted.

Abstracts of votes are certified by the circuit court clerk and document the summary by the Electoral Board of the official results. Includes total number of voters, write-in certification, and total votes for each candidate/issue.

Locality History: Charles City County was named for King Charles I and was one of the original shires, or counties, first enumerated in 1634. The county seat is Charles City. Part of James City County was added to Charles City in 1721.

Lost Locality Note: Charles City County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Records have been destroyed at various times. The most damage occurred during the Civil War when the records were strewn through the woods in a rainstorm. A few pre–Civil War volumes such as deed books, will books, minute books, and order books exist.

Scope and Content

Charles City County (Va.) Election Records, 1795-1939 circa, consists of records documenting voting returns, election results, qualified voters, and the official processes involved in conducting elections at the locality level.

Loose election records, 1795-1896, include election appointments of various officers, such as clerks, judges, registrars, and the electoral board; election returns; election write ins for the Tyler, Harrison, and Chickahominy Magisterial Districts; and miscellaneous other election records including lists of voters.

Also included are six List of Voters volumes, 1902-1939 circa. These volumes were created following the passage of the 1902 Virginia state constitution. Lists of Voters were separated into lists of Black and Multiracial voters (referred to as "colored") and lists of white voters. Lists of Voters also include the names of women who registered following passage of Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Information found in the lists includes date of registration; number of registered voter; name of registered voter; date of birth; age; occupation; residence; length of residence in state, county, and precinct; whether exempt from poll tax; if naturalized, and if so, date of papers and by what court issued; if transferred from another precinct, and if so, when and to what precinct. These Lists of Voters originated in Harrison Precinct in the Harrison Magisterial District and Tyler Precinct in the Tyler Magisterial District.

Charles City County's Lists of Voters originally included loose voter registration records, 1908-1936, undated, that had been filed between the pages of the volumes. The records were removed from the volumes and filed in a separate box during processing. These loose records consist of voter registration applications, vouchers, registration oaths, correspondence of the voter registrar, and certificates of registration for the transfer of voters.

A portion of the voter registration applications filed in the List of Colored Voters for the Harrison Precinct in the Harrison Magisterial District included voting tests that were administered to Black and Multiracial applicants.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Related Material

See also the Military Rule Election Records of the Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1867, 1869 at the Library of Virginia.

Additional Charles City County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Charles City County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Charles City County Court Records may be found in the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available on the Library of Virginia website.

Adjunct Descriptive Data