The question was upon the motion of Mr
THRUSTON to amend the latter part of the
section, so that it shall read ;
"And no lunatic, or person non compos
mentis shall be entitled to vote."
The question being then taken, upon a di
vision—ayes 31, noes not counted—the
amendment was adopted.
Mr. SCOTT. I move to amend this sixth
section by inserting the words "a second
time" after the word "convicted," so that i
will then read—"that no person * * *
and convicted of larceny or other infamous
crime," &c.
Mr. MILLER, I would raise the point that
this is substantially the same amendment
which has already, been voted upon by the
convention.
The PRESIDENT. The gentleman is correct
This amendment is not in order.
Mr. RIDGELY. I move the following as a
substitute for the whole section :
"No person above twenty-one years of
age, convicted of any infamous crime, shall
be entitled to vote until two years shall have
elapsed after his discharge from punishment,
unless pardoned by the executive; and no
lunatic or person non compos mentis under
guardianship shall be entitled to vote."
Mr. SANDS. I move to amend the amend-
ment of the gentleman from Baltimore county
(Mr. Ridgely,) by striking out the words
•' unless pardoned by the executive."
Mr. MILLER. Is not this going right over
again, what we have already been voting
upon. The words " unless pardoned by the
executive" have been once voted upon.
Mr. SANDS. The proposition before the
house now is a new one.
Mr. THRUSTON. The latter branch of the
substitute has already been determined by
the house,
Mr. SANDS. This is a substitute; and 1
move to strike out certain words of this sub-
stitute.
The PRESIDENT. In the opinion of the chair,
the substitute is in order.
Mr. THRUSTON called the previous question,
which wars seconded.
The main question was ordered, upon a di-
vision—ayes 30, noes 22.
The first question was upon the amendment
of Mr. SANDS, to strike out the words " unless
pardoned by the executive."
The question being taken, the amendment
was rejected.
The question recurred upon the following
substitute, proposed by Mr. RIDGELY, for the
sixth section:
" No person above twenty-one years of age
convicted of any infamous crime, shall be
entitled to vote, until' two years shall have
elapsed after his discharge from punishment,
unless pardoned by the executive, and no lu-
natic or person non compos mentis, under
guardianship, shall be entitled to vote." |
Upon this question, Mr SANDS called for
the yeas and nays, which were ordered,
The question being then taken, by yeas
and nays, it resulted—yeas 22, noes 39—as
follows;
Yeas— Messrs. Bond, Brown, Earle, Far-
row, Galloway, Hatch, Hoffman, Hopper,
Jones, of Cecil, King, Lee, Mace, Pugh, Pur-
nell, Ridgely, Sands, Scott, Smith, of Wor-
cester, Stockbridge, Swope, Thomas, Wilmer
—22.
Nays—Messrs. Goldsborough. President;
Abbott, Annan, Audoun, Berry, of Prince
George's, Billingsley, Brooks, Carter, Davis,
of Charles, Davis, of Washington, Dennis,
Ecker, Edelen, Harwood, Hopkins, Jones, of
Somerset, Keefer, Kennard, Markey, May-
hugh, McComas, Mitchell, Miller, Morgan,
Mullikin, Murray, Nyman, Parker, Robinette,
Russell, Smith, of Dorchester, Sneary, Stir-
ling, Sykes, Thruston, Todd, Valliant, Wick-
ard, Wooden—39.
The substitute was accordingly rejected.
The section as amended was then adopted.
Mr. MILLER moved the following as an ad-
ditional section:
"Sec. 7. No person in the military or na-
val service of the United States shall be con-
sidered as having acquired a residence to vote
because he has been employed at any bar-
racks, forts, or naval station in this State,
and no citizen shall be deemed to have lost
his residence by reason of his absence while
employed in the service of this State or of the
United States, or while engaged in navi-
gating the waters thereof, or the high seas,
or while confined as a public prisoner."
The question being taken upon the section
proposed by Mr MILLER, upon a division—
ayes 20, noes 25—no quorum voted.
The PRESIDENT stated that the question
would be put again,
Mr. MILLER. Before the question is again
taken, I would like to say a few words on this
amendment. It simply provides that no per-
son in the military or naval service of the
United States shall he considered as halving
acquired a residence and a right to vote sim-
ply because he has been employed in any
barracks, fort, or naval station in this State.
And it gets rid of a difficulty which we have
many times had at our polls. The question
has arisen whether persons who have come
into the State, and are in the military service
of the United States, and happen to be sta-
tioned temporarily at any of the forts in the
State, have the right to vote at our elec-
tions, This prevents their voting on that
ground.
In the next place, this section says that no
citizen of this State shall lose his residence
by reason of his absence while employed in
the service of this State, or the United States,
or while engaged in navigating the waters
thereof, or the high seas. Now, in reference
to those persons who lose their residence by |
