The House of Delegates was founded
on the basis of equal representation of
counties, each county being entitled to
four delegates.37 But this equality was
qualified, for Baltimore City and
Annapolis were given the right to elect
two delegates. In the case of Baltimore,
there was a provision that if the number
of persons in Baltimore having the suf-
frage should fall below one-half the
number of voters in the least populous
county of the State for seven successive
years, then Baltimore was to cease send-
ing its two delegates until it again had
a voting population of more than one-
half of the smallest county.38 The 1776
Constitution thus did admit, to a slight
degree, the relevance of population to
representation in the House of Dele-
gates.
Present day attacks on malapportion-
ment sometimes speak of malapportiori-
ment as giving in effect multiple weight
to the votes of favored electors. The
possibility of actual multiple votes was
created by the provisions of the Consti-
tution allowing Baltimore City and
Annapolis to elect two delegates, for
each of these cities was an integral part
of the county in which it was located.
Article VI of the Constitution eliminated
these possibilities of multiple voting
with respect to Baltimore City by ex-
cluding the city voters from participa-
tion in the county elections. It was dif-
ferent with respect to Annapolis, how-
ever, where under Article IV city voters
could also participate in the Anne
Arundel County elections — and thus
vote twice for delegates — provided they
had a freehold of fifty acres of land in
the county distinct from any property
holdings in the city.
Representation in the House of Dele-
37 md. const, art. II (1776).
38 md. const, art. V (1776).
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gates under the Constitution of 1776
was thus based on a confusing mixture
of principles: equal representation for
the counties, as counties, augmented by
one-half representation for Baltimore
City and Annapolis, but contingent for
Baltimore upon a minimum population
ratio. Undue weight for these city
voters was to be avoided by excluding
them from the election of county dele-
gates unless, in the case of Annapolis,
minimum property qualifications in that
part of the county outside of the city
were also met.
Although not apportioned according
to population on a statewide basis, the
delegates to the lower house from each
county were subject to popular control
within that county. The 1776 Constitu-
tion sought to prevent any degree of
popular control, even at the county
level, over the Senate by providing for
its indirect election. This was accom-
plished by allowing each county to elect
by popular vote two senatorial electors,
Baltimore City and Annapolis being
allowed to elect one such senatorial elec-
tor each.39 The senatorial electors were
then to elect fifteen senators, nine to be
residents of the Western shore and six
residents of the Eastern Shore.40
An amendment in 1810 ended the
right of those residents of Annapolis
who owned fifty acres of land in Anne
Arundel County outside of the city to
vote in both the city and the county,
thus terminating Maryland's only ex-
periment with multiple voting.41
The delegates to the General Assem-
bly and the senatorial electors were, of
course, not apportioned by population.
This was not too serious at first for the
39 md. const, art. XIV (1776).
40 md. const, art. XV (1776).
41 md. const, art. XV (1810).
137
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