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DELEGATE KOSS: Delegate Della, this does

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not go in any way, shape or form to the method of hiring

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or to the status of local boards of election supervisors.

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In the hearings before the committee, the election officials

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from the counties said that one of the great needs in this

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state was for the uniform administration of the election law

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for the simple reason that now, for instance, one of the

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problems that was presented to us was that each board of

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election supervisors has the authority to employ their own

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attorney and, as a result, on a given law affecting the

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election procedures you have 24 different interpretations.

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The Maryland Association of Election Officials

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felt that it was necessary to have an agency, and I am

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not, nor did the committee intend to mandate a department

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at the state level who would be available to all of the

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boards of election supervisors of the counties and of the

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City of Baltimore to help achieve uniformity in the

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administration of election laws in the state of Maryland,

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THE PRESIDENT: Delegate Della, I think the

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Chair could amplify that a little based on the discussion

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before the committee and before the Committee on Suffrage