rid of in the legislature. That is why we
feel it must go to the people.
DELEGATE CASE: I am not sure
I completely understand. For example,
couldn't, again using Baltimore County as
an example under your proposal, a com-
plete countywide ticket be drawn of people
who live only in Towson?
DELEGATE HOPKINS: Mr. Case, I
think this is something that is very un-
likely. Certainly it could happen, but I do
not think the voters of your county are
likely to be that fooled.
DELEGATE CASE: I would not com-
ment on that. Traditionally, of course, as I
understand it, though I don't know any-
thing about this political subject really;
but as I understand it, tickets were made
up of people who lived in the various areas
as nearly as possible. In other words, back
when we had a House of Delegates of six
people running from the county at large,
they always tried to pick two from, let's
say the lower end of the county, one from
the Towson area, one from Catonsville.
Could this not take us right back to where
we were before?
DELEGATE HOPKINS: May I point
out, you come from a county in which the
situation is obviously ideal. We do want
people from each district, but I shall also
point out there are other parts of Mary-
land where this has not been the practice.
I think we are now getting back into the
argument of single member districts and not
the problem to which I address myself
which is what we do about the legislator
whose district is drawn from under him.
DELEGATE CASE: My whole point is
that in theory this could run counter to
the theory of single member districts and
could in theory cut the basis of it right
away, couldn't it?
DELEGATE HOPKINS: In theory a lot
of things could happen, but I am not that
pessimistic about the voters.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any fur-
ther questions of the minority spokesman
for the purpose of clarification. Delegate
Sickles.
DELEGATE SICKLES: Will the spokes-
man yield to a question?
DELEGATE HOPKINS: Yes.
DELEGATE SICKLES: Isn't it true, if
you did put together such a ticket and all
those candidates did not live in the re-
spective separate districts, the advantage |
of ticketing would, as a matter of fact, not
be there because each candidate would have
to be elected from his own separate dis-
trict and not be dragged in with the rest
of the ticket.
DELEGATE HOPKINS: Thank you
very much. That is absolutely correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any fur-
ther questions? Delegate Pullen.
DELEGATE PULLEN: I find myself
somewhat confused with all this discussion
of single district and redistricting and the
like. I am in sympathy with and in favor
of the single district.
However, the problem here does not seem
to be that. It seems to be revolving around
the question of redistricting. I live in the
first district of Baltimore County.
THE CHAIRMAN: This is a period for
questions. Are you about to ask the mi-
nority spokesman a question.
DELEGATE PULLEN: I have the priv-
ilege of making a speech before asking a
question.
The CHAIRMAN: Not at this point.
DELEGATE PULLEN: Tell me what
this is all about.
THE CHAIRMAN: You may address
questions to the minority spokesman for
purpose of clarification of the Minority Re-
port. At the regular point we will give you
the floor to make a speech.
DELEGATE PULLEN: I do not want
to make a speech. Delegate Hopkins is the
wife of a former pupil for whom I have
respect, I want to support her.
Mrs. Hopkins, you are trying to guard
against the evil of indiscriminate redis-
tricting, gerrymandering, some people call
it; I like to call it shoestringing. Just what
does this involve? If you can make that
clear, I will probably go along with you.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Hopkins.
DELEGATE HOPKINS: This involves
removing from the constitution any re-
quirements for a person filing for the legis-
lature as to where he lives. The purpose of
this is not to let someone run who knows
nothing about the disitrict and is from out-
side; it is to protect the person who is al-
ready elected or who has been an active
political force in a district. It would not
necessarily always be a case of gerryman-
dering, just in redrawing lines of necessity
every ten years. If you live in a precinct |
