amendment by striking out the last sen-
tence of paragraph A, beginning with the
word if, "if one of the nominees does not
receive a majority vote of all delegates
elected to the Convention, the delegate with
the lower vote shall be removed from the
list and the same procedure followed until
a President is elected," and inserting in
lieu thereof, "if one of the nominees does
not receive a majority vote of all the dele-
gates elected to the Convention, the same
procedure shall be followed with another
secret ballot until a president is elected."
THE CHAIRMAN: I think we will ac-
cept the amendment. Are you ready for
the vote? The Chair recognizes Delegate
Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: This proposal
by Delegate Weidemeyer is actually one
that calls for the election of officers by
secret ballot. The members of this Consti-
tutional Convention who are assembled here
today represent the sovereignty of the
people of Maryland, and our acts here to-
day are public acts. There is no place here
for secrecy. The people of Maryland have
the right to know what we do, and how we
stand. When we assumed this public posi-
tion, we assumed a public trust; and there-
fore, all of our acts in this Convention are
public property; so we must now stand
up and be counted, especially in the all-
important task of electing our officers.
I urge you to vote No on this amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: We will vote on the
adoption of the first amendment by Dele-
gate Weidemeyer. All in favor, say Aye;
opposed, No. The Noes seem to have it.- The
Noes have it. The amendment fails for
want of a majority.
We are following a procedure which
forces voting on this. If there is any real
doubt on this, we will have a roll call. The
Chair recognizes Delegate Clark.
DELEGATE J. CLARK: I have an
amendment to Rule 1 that I would like to
offer.
THE CHAIRMAN: Please proceed.
DELEGATE J. CLARK: They are al-
ready on the desk, Mr. Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does the Secretary
have a copy?
DELEGATE J. CLARK: Will the Clerk
read the amendment?
THE SECRETARY: The amendment to
the standing Rules of the Convention, intro- |
duced by Delegates Clark, Fornos,- Hos-
tetter, Koss, Pascal and Ulrich:
Amendment to Rule l: On page 1 of the
mimeographed proposed rules, in Rule l,
and following the second paragraph, insert
the following new paragraph:
"All sessions of this Convention and
all meetings of its committees shall be
open to the public at all times, and no
rules shall be promulgated which in any
way infringe upon the public's right to
information about this Convention."
DELEGATE J. CLARK: Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Convention:
To me this is avery basic thing, I think it
is important that we vote upon it at this
time. Today, right at this moment, one of
the primary goals of this Convention should
be to gain and keep the confidence of the
people of this State. This Convention be-
longs to them, not to us, and I think the
most concrete step that we can make to
gain that confidence, to make a beginning,
is to adopt this rule, and I move for its
immediate adoption.
THE CHAIRMAN: Is there further dis-
cussion? The Chair recognizes Delegate
White.
DELEGATE WHITE: I would very
heartily concur with Delegate Clark. The
first step to be taken is that there will not
be a secret ballot. The next logical step.
that there shall be no secret meetings, I
hope that we invoke the rules for both of
these.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: A point of
order. Is seconding required of these mo-
tions or resolutions which the President is
now entertaining?
THE CHAIRMAN: No. I think it is
normal parliamentary procedure to re-
quire a second. That is ancient history.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I would like
to second the motion of Senator Clark so
the record may stand clear. We discussed
problems of libeling last night, and I second
it nevertheless.
THE CHAIRMAN: The. Chair recognizes
the Chairman of the Committee.
DELEGATE SCANLAN: The Committee
finds Senator Clark's amendment accept-
able to it. The idea of parity for all is the
same.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Malkus.
DELEGATE MALKUS: Mr. President
pro tem, I find myself in a very embar- |
