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DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: May I
suggest to you in view of the fact that the
entire argument just concluded was based
on the assumption thirty days would be
the period of time, that this amendment
has already been decided and is out of
order at this time.
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair cannot
agree with your assumption. The question-
ing of Delegate Case by Delegate Cardin
indicated that the period of time could be
as little as three days. Delegate Chabot,
the chair recognizes you to speak to the
amendment.
DELEGATE CHABOT: First, Mr. Chair-
man, I am happy and proud to have been
the occasion for an addition to the richness
of the English language as practiced in
this Convention.
But the whole point of this amendment,
I am afraid, addresses itself to just the
very argument that Delegate Rybczynski
had made before. The one quality of the
preceding amendment was that it related
constitutional requirements to whatever the
legislature would set up by statute as the
time for closing the books for registration.
Delegate Rybczynski properly pointed out
that it was improper that we should set
the standards here and the legislature
should follow our standards. This would set
the standard. It would set it at thirty days.
Thirty days, by the way, is not a day
plucked out of the air. There are approxi-
mately eight other states which, as of mid-
1965, had thirty-day local residence re-
quirements.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, this amendment
would retain the last sentence of section 1.
It would simply make the appropriate
change in that last sentence so a person
who removed from one district to another
in this State within thirty days prior to
the election could still vote at his old resi-
dence and there would be no danger under
this provision of a person losing his vote
simply because he moved too close to elec-
tion days. I suggest this amendment re-
tains the basic virtue of the James amend-
ment and does not suffer from its faults.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Koss, do
you desire to yield the floor to Delegate
Rybczynski?
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: Mr. Chair-
man, once again this amendment fails to
answer the thing that the Committee tried
to stress most of all and that is, the in-
tegrity of elections. Please keep in mind
the main argument which Delegate Koss
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presented a little while ago, which is that
three months seemed to be a reasonable
time in which a new resident could become
familiar with the candidates and issues,
bond questions, and all the other questions
that go into an election.
Thirty days just is not enough time in
the majority's opinion. Ninety days seemed
to strike a happy medium. We favored that
figure and we know you will too, just as
you indicated by your vote a little while
ago. We suggest you vote against this
amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any other dele-
gate desire to speak in favor? Delegate
James Clark.
DELEGATE JAMES CLARK: Mr.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I think
the Chabot amendment is an excellent com-
promise on the question which we have be-
fore us. It seems to me we should endeavor
to make it easier for people to vote, not
make it more difficult. I certainly hope the
amendment prevails.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any other dele-
gate desire to speak to the question? Dele-
gate Rybczynski.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: Just a sec-
ond, if you will bear with me, Mr. Chair-
man. That last remark was not exactly
fair to the Committee. We did make voting
easier for people. We reduced it from six
months to three months. We took this into
consideration. The present law is six
months. We reduced it to three months so
we did exactly what Senator Clark sug-
gests now.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hardin
Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: May I address
a question to Chairman Koss?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Koss, will
you take the floor to yield to a question?
DELEGATE KOSS: Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion?
DELEGATE MARION: When the Com-
mittee recommended the language appear-
ing in lines 12 and 13 where you speak of
three months next preceding an election,
"election" in that sense, I take it, refers
to a general election and would not refer
to a primary election. Is that correct?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Koss.
DELEGATE KOSS: That is correct,
that is the current practice in this State.
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