or Comptroller or other State candidate, or the county candidates of the party at whose primary he tenders his ballot, or registered voter who shall attain the age of twenty-one years prior to the next election, or who having failed to vote at such last election, declares his intention to vote at the next succeeding election for the candidates named by the party at whose election he tenders his ballot shall be deemed a member of such party and entitled to vote at such primary election. The voter shall prepare his ballot by cancelling, using a black pencil, the names of those for whom he does not desire to vote by running or making a pencil line or lines through said names, and the names of those voted for are to be indicated by the absence of any cancellation of their names. Each ballot cast at any such primary election shall be handed by the voter to one of the judges of the election, folded so that the contents thereof can not be seen, and the judge of election so receiving such ballot shall place the same in a plain, white opaque envelope, to be therefor provided, and seal the same and deposit such envelope so sealed in the ballot box in the presence of the voter and the other judges of election, after a majority of the judges are satisfied that he is qualified to vote at such primary election. And the return judge of such election immediately upon the deposit of any ballot in the ballot box, as herein provided, shall with an indelible pencil make the letter "V" in the appropriate column in said primary election registration book or list opposite the name of the party casting such ballot, and simultaneously therewith the clerks of such election shall enter the name of the person so voting in a poll book to be provided each of them by the governing body of the party holding such election. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 160H. As soon as the polls shall be closed the judges in their several districts or precincts with the aid of the clerks shall immediately and at the place of polling proceed to canvass the votes cast and the canvass shall not be adjourned until it shall have been fully completed, and the ballot box shall have been sealed as hereinafter provided, and upon the closing of the polls each of the election clerks shall write his name in the poll books immediately under the name of the last voter recorded therein, the judge keeping the primary election register shall write in ink, opposite to and against the name of each person entered in the register or list of voters who is not shown thereby to have voted and in the appropriate column headed "Voted" the word "No" so that the column may be wholly filled up, and the judges shall then compare the primary election register with the poll books as kept by the clerks, and make them agree, and ascertain the number of persons who, by said primary election register and poll books, are shown to have voted at that polling place on that day, and when they have made such comparison and ascertained such facts, they shall announce the same in a loud voice, and the judges shall then open the ballot box, count the envelopes therein and in a like manner announce the whole number of envelopes in the box, and if any envelope shall be found not of the uniform character supplied or if any mark or device be found on any envelope, or on the ballot contained therein, by which in the opinion of the majority of the judges, the same may be identified, so as to indicate who may have cast the same, the ballot so marked or the ballot contained in the envelope so marked shall not be counted, and when more than one ballot shall be found in an envelope, neither of the ballots therein shall be counted; and the intention, so far as the same may be ascertained from each ballot itself, shall in the absence of any unlawful or fraudulent mark or device thereon or enclosed therewith or on the envelope containing the same, prevail. If more names are marked for any office than there are persons to be voted for, such ballots shall not be counted for such candidates or delegates, as the case may be, but the whole ballot shall not for that reason be rejected for candidates for other offices, if any, and a ballot marked by any other than a black pencil shall not be counted. No vote shall be counted for any person whose name is cancelled, and the names of those voted for are to be indicated (and so considered and counted) by the absence of any cancellation of their names. And one of the judges, in the presence of the other, shall open the envelopes, take the ballots therefrom and hand them separately to be canvassed by another of the judges, sitting where the other judges and the watchers can see the same. The judge canvassing the ballots shall call out the name of each enadidate voted for and the designation of the position for which he is voted for, the other judge looking at the ballot at the same time, and the clerks shall, as the names are called, make proper tally of the same on tally sheets provided for the purpose. When all of the ballots have been canvassed in this manner, the primary election clerks shall compare their tallies together, and ascertain the total number of votes received by each person voted for, and when they agree upon the number, one of them shall announce in a loud voice to the judges and watchers the aggregate number of the votes received by each candidate. If requested by any watcher or challenger present in any canvass, it shall be the duty of the judges and each of them to exhibit to such watcher or challenger any envelope and any ballot cast, fully open or in such manner or condition that he may fully examine the same, but the judges shall not allow any ballot to be taken from their hands; as the envelopes are opened, each shall be strung upon strong twine or wire and likewise the ballots, as counted, shall also be strung. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 1601. Upon the completion of the count and the announcement of the result, the poll book, oaths, tally sheets, certified copy of registration and the ballots cast and counted shall be placed in the ballot box, together with a package containing the ballots not counted as aforesaid, marked "defective," which ballot box shall then be locked and the key removed. Thereupon the judges of election shall all write their names upon a strip of paper of sufficient length for the following purposes, said strip of paper shall then be pasted over the key hole of said ballot box, and over the slit in the lid in such manner that the signature shall extend across the place of opening of the lid, and so that when the box is opened it will tear the paper and destroy the signature, and so that when the key is inserted it will tear the paper so pasted over the key hole; such paper shall be securely fastened with sealing wax or some other adhesive material, and said box shall not be re-opened until at a meeting of the governing body of the party holding said primary election hereinafter provided for. And upon sealing the ballot box as in section 160H of this Act provided, the same, together with the primary election registration book or register, shall be delivered to and taken charge of by the return judge for each election district or precinct, who shall carefully guard and present the same to the meeting of the governing body to be held in the court house in each county at eleven o'clock A. M. on Tuesday next succeeding the date of such primary election, and after the returns shall have been canvassed and the results shall have been announced by the governing body of the party holding such primary election, as hereinafter directed, provided it shall be the duty of the return judge of each election district or precinct to deliver said ballot box and primary election register to the clerk of the Board of Election Supervisors of each county. The governing bodies of the respective parties holding the primary election held under the provisions of this Act, shall respectively assemble in the court house of each county at eleven o'clock A. M. on Tuesday next succeeding the day of such primary election of their respective parties, receive the ballot boxes from the return judges, sealed as provided in this Act, and shall proceed in public to canvass the vote cast at such primary election and publicly to announce the result thereof, if any protest against the result is announced by the judges of any election district or districts, is submitted to said governing body before the canvass of the votes of the entire county is completed, said governing body shall consider and determine any controversy that may arise in respect thereto and the decision of said body thereon shall be final. Any vacancy which may exist in respect to any office or position, after the returns have been canvassed and the final result announced, shall be filled as the rules and regulations of the governing bodies for the respective counties of the several parties may now or shall hereafter provide. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 160J. Each of said judges appointed under this Act shall have power to cause the arrest of any one violating any of the provisions hereof, and in the absence of any person authorized by law to make arrests said judge may designate some person for that purpose, and each of the judges shall be conservators of the peace in their respective primary election polls, at which they may act as such judges, and may in the manner herein provided cause the arrest of any person disturbing the peace, and cause the party so arrested to be committed for the action of the grand jury or a justice of the peace, as the case may be. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 160K. Any judge or clerk of the primary election, or any member of any such committee, or of the governing body, holding primary elections under this Act, on whom any duty is required in this Act to be performed, who shall be guilty of any wilful violation of any provision of this Act or of any neglect or corrupt practice in executing the same, not. otherwise provided for herein, he or they shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in jail for not less than. thirty days, nor more than ninety days, or by both such fine and im-prisonment, in the discretion of the Court. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 160L. And be it enacted, That each return judge who shall serve in connection with each primary election held under the provisions of this. Act, shall be paid the sum of nine dollars for his services and each judge and each clerk three dollars therefor, to be paid by the County Commissioners of each county, and that the cost of the books and of making the list of voters provided for in this Act and keeping the same posted and corrected shall also be paid by the Board of County Commissioners for each county, provided that the cost of making suchlists shall not exceed one hundred dollars, and the cost for posting and correcting the same in any one year thereafter shall not exceed the sum of twenty dollars, and all other costs incident to the holding of primary elections provided for in this Act shall be borne by the governing bodies of the parties in each county holding such primary elections. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 160M. The member of the State Central Committee or governing body of each party in any county, in calling any county convention of each party to order, shall announce the name and address of the delegates whowere elected at the primary election as delegates to said convention. All. nominations made by said convention shall be certified to by the presiding officer and the secretary of the convention, as required by Article 33 of the Code of Public General Laws. If the nominations for county officers are made by means of a direct vote at the primary election the. certificates shall be signed and acknowledged by the State Central Committee or other governing body of the respective political parties of the several counties or a majority of them in the manner prescribed fornominations by convention as required by Article 33 of the Code of Public General Laws. CHAPTER 737, ACTS OF 1908. 160N. Every candidate for the nomination for a State office, that is to say, for an office filled by the vote of all the registered voters of the State of Maryland, shall have the right to submit his candidacy for said nomination for such office to a direct vote of the registered voters in each county and in each legislative district of Baltimore city belonging to the political party of which the candidate is a member and whose nomination for such office he is seeking; and every candidate for a nomination of any political party aforesaid for a State office shall be nominated by a direct vote of the duly registered voters belonging to the party to which such candidate belongs in each county and legislative district aforesaid and in the manner herein provided, that is to say, the candidate of any political party aforesaid for any such State office receiving the greatest number of votes of his party in any county or any legislative district of Baltimore city for such office in a primary election to be held in each of said counties and legislative districts shall be entitled to and receive the votes in the State convention of his party of the delegates from such county or counties or legislative district or districts in said State convention. The said vote of the registered voters of each of said political parties in each of said counties and legislative districts shall be binding on the delegates to and in the State convention of each of said parties from said counties and legislative districts respectively so as to require said delegates from each of said counties and legislative districts to vote for the candidate for any State office who in said primary election shall have received the greatest number of votes cast by the registered voters of his party in the county or legislative district from which said delegates in the State convention shall have been elected for the particular State office in question; and the candidate for such office receiving the greatest number of votes in said State convention for the nomination for such State office shall be the candidate of the party therefor. The chairman of the State Central Committee for the whole State of each of said political parties shall fix and ascertain a day or days for holding the primary elections for nominations for State offices in each of the counties of the State, and shall, within thirty days before the time for holding such primary elections, notify by notice sent through the mail to the chairman of the State Central Committee of his party in each of the counties of the date so fixed and ascertained by him for said primary elections, and shall also publish the date by advertisement in two daily newspapers published in the city of Baltimore, and the day so fixed and ascertained by such chairman for said primary elections for nominations for State offices may be the same day upon which the primary elections for nominations for county offices are to be held under the provisions of this Act. And the State Central Comimttees of each of the said political parties of the several counties shall cause to be printed on the official primary ballots herein before referred to, the names of all candidates for any State office aranged alphabetically according to the surnames of the candidates for each State office so that the same may be voted upon and in the manner herein before in this Act provided with reference to candidates for county offices; and all candidates of any of said parties for any State office shall file with the State Central Committee of his party for the State, a copy of which shall be promptly forwarded by the chairman of such State committee to the chairman of each State Central |