will retract that first part and leave that
120 in, just as we had it.
THE CHAIRMAN: In the absence of
objection, typographical error will be cor-
rected by striking all of lines 1. 2, 3 and 4.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: That is
correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Strike all of lines 1,
2, 3 and 4. Is the amendment seconded?
(Whereupon, the motion was duly sec-
onded.)
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair recognizes
Delegate Weidemeyer to speak to the
amendment.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Mr. Pres-
ident, members of the Convention:
This amendment would then leave in for
the House of Delegates the number of 120
as decided this morning. If the delegates
will turn to the memorandum accompanying
Delegate Proposal No. 224, we will not be
dealing in just bare numbers and suppo-
sitions as to what can happen under it,
because there you will find the population
of each county and the population of Bal-
timore City.
I might say this, that I am more in
favor of this way of voting in the Senate
than I was in the House, for two reasons:
I think that it is more important that
every subdivision have at least one senator
than that each subdivision have a member
in the Hause, because the function of the
Senate is vastly different from that of the
House. The senators have to confirm ap-
pointments within their counties, unless we
vastly change the situation, and another
thing, each senator would be running with-
in his own county, and the county boun-
daries would be fixed. The only boundaries,
then, that would have to be fixed under
the Constitution would be for the designing
of the delegate boundaries, which would be
based on full number of population for
whole vote.
1 want to say this, Mr. President and
Members: There has been some doubt cast
as to whether a plan of this kind would
be Constitutional. It has been my under-
standing that the matter has only been in
two or three courts. Two of the courts were
out in the West, and there the legislatures
tried to weigh voting plans without chang-
ing their own State Constitutions, so that
when their plans went to the court for
approval, the court necessarily had to find
the plans not meeting their present Consti- |
tutional provisions, not the Federal Con-
stitution, but their own State's.
Now, in the Lomenxo case, which Dele-
gate Henderson read from in New York,
the disparity between one delegate and an-
other was 19 votes to one. In working out
this plan, as you will notice, the highest
vdte cast by any senator would be five votes,
and every vote would be weighted on
population.
With the population of three million,
3,100,689, divided by 173 votes, it would
equal 17,923 population per vote.
Now, with a population of a minus 15,
the number would come up to 15,235, and if
you take a plus 15 from the mean, we
come up with 20,611 votes.
I think it you look at this you will find
that we could probably go quite a bit with-
out changing the number of votes cast or
the number of senators in the Senate. You
will also notice that by this amendment,
while we are establishing at this time 173
votes with 52 senators, I have based it not
on projected figures, but on what the
courts say we have to act, and that is the
1960 population.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weide-
meyer, you have one minute.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Mr. Pres-
ident, I would say that in fairness, so that
we get statewide representation, this plan
by far offers the best way to satisfy all of
our people, all over the State, because in
the 120 they will be represented. There will
be new delegate districts, but we will not
have to redesign our county line, and each
senator will be running within his county.
1 want to say this, if you will notice we
have 12 senators from Baltimore City. It
does not change that. -I think we now have
seven senators from Baltimore County.
They remain there. We have five, I think,
from Prince Georges and Montgomery, and
they will stay there. Each one of those five
senators can stay there, with four votes,
and as the population increases his voting
power, perhaps, will just go to five votes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Your time is up.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Thank
you, Mr. President. I ask for favorable
consideration.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any delegate
desire to speak in opposition?
Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Mr. Chair- |
