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situation now than it was in the mid
twenties, as I understand it.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Judge Child.
DELEGATE CHILD: Does it not have
the effect that I described?
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: It has the
effect of change, that is right, sir.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Child.
DELEGATE CHILD: What percentage
of the vote in Baltimore City came out at
the last municipal election, if you know?
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Schloedcr.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: I can only
say it was probably a higher percentage
than turned out for the Constitutional Con-
vention election on June 13. I think that
the quality of the delegates from Balti-
more City in this Convention is an indica-
tion that the number of people or percent-
age of people that turned out is not always
indicative of how wisely they choose. I
think they chose very wisely. I think they
were an informed and interested electorate.
This is what we are attempting to get at.
As I said in my original presentation,
there is no question that when you have
a president running, you are going to have
the highest possible turnout. When you
have a governor running, you are going
to have a higher turnout than if you just
have local officials.
Actually we are arguing that this is not
good, that this turnout is not an honest
turnout, that what is happening is simply
that you are getting people mixing their
issues and mixing their candidates. For in-
stance, if you have a question on urban
problems, that is a national problem and it
is a municipal or county problem. It seems
to me we have to hold only those municipal
officers or county officers accountable for
the part they can play in solving that
problem. To tie them in with the presi-
dent would be a mistake. People would
come and vote, I think, in an unenlightened
fashion to a very large degree.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Child.
DELEGATE CHILD: Do I take it, sir,
from your answer that you advocate a
small turnout at elections?
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Schloeder.
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DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: No, sir, I
would not want you to take that as an
indication of my feelings. I want as large
a turnout as possible. I want it as large as
we can possibly get, but I think it has to
be an informed electorate.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Child.
DELEGATE CHILD: Would the present
system not have a tendency to bring out a
larger turnout than the system which you
propose?
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: I am sorry,
sir, I did not hear that question. I was
attempting to g-et some figures here on
voter turnout.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Child.
DELEGATE CHILD: Would not the sys-
tem which we now have in your opinion
produce a larger turnout than the system
which you now propose?
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Schloeder.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: Not neces-
sarily. I think there are other factors in-
volved in turnout. I do not think it is
simply a matter of when the election is
held. There are candidates, there are is-
sues. In the recent Baltimore City mayor-
alty election, the reason the turnout was
low was because there was not much of a
race. The minority party was not able to
muster much of a race. The issues were
not clearly defined or delineated. I think
there are more reasons than just when
elections are held that will decide what
kind of turnout you have.
I have been handed some figures on Bal-
timore City concerning governor and
mayor.
DELEGATE CHILD: I was asking you,
sir, for the last election figure.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: Just for
the last election?
DELEGATE CHILD: Yes.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: Do you not
want to go back any more?
DELEGATE CHILD: No, sir.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDEIl: Last elec-
tion of g-overnor in 19G6, 242,000 rounded
out voted for governor and 117,000 voted
for mayor the next year 1967. As I recall
the gubernatorial election, I may be cor-
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