692/Maryland Manual

ARTICLE XI-A¹⁵⁸
LOCAL LEGISLATION.

SECTION I.¹⁵⁹ On demand of the Mayor of Balti-
more and City Council of the City of Baltimore, or on
petition bearing the signatures of not less than 20% of
the registered voters of said City or any County (Pro-
vided, however, that in any case 10,000 signatures shall
be sufficient to complete a petition), the Board of Elec-
tion Supervisors of said City or County shall provide at
the next general or congressional election, occurring af-
ter such demand or the filing of such petition, for the
election of a charter board of eleven registered voters of
said City or five registered voters in any such Counties.
Nominations for members for said charter board may
be made not less than forty days prior to said election
by the Mayor of Baltimore and City Council of the
City of Baltimore or the County Commissioners of such
County, or not less than twenty days prior to said elec-
tion by petition bearing the signatures written in their
own handwriting (and not by their mark) of not less
than 5% of the registered voters of the said City of
Baltimore or said County; provided, that in any case
two thousand signatures of registered voters shall be
sufficient to complete any such nominating petition, and
if not more than eleven registered voters of the City of
Baltimore or not more than five registered voters in any
such County are so nominated their names shall not be
printed on the ballot, but said eleven registered voters
in the City of Baltimore or five in such County shall
constitute said charter board from and after the date of
said election. At said election the ballot shall contain
the names of said nominees in alphabetical order with-
out any indication of the source of their nomination,
and shall also be so arranged as to permit the voter to
vote for or against the creation of said charter board,
but the vote cast against said creation shall not be held
to bar the voter from expressing his choice among the
nominees for said board, and if the majority of the
votes cast for and against the creation of said charter
board shall be against said creation the election of the
members of said charter board shall be void; but if such
majority shall be in favor of the creation of said charter
board, then and in that event the eleven nominees of
the City of Baltimore or five nominees in the County
receiving the largest number of votes shall constitute
the charter board, and said charter board, or a majority
thereof, shall prepare within twelve months from the
date of said election a charter or form of government
for said city or such county and present the same to the
Mayor of Baltimore or President of the Board of Coun-
ty Commissioners of such county, who shall publish the
same in at least two newspapers of general circulation
published in the City of Baltimore or County within
thirty days after it shall be reported to him. Such char-
ter shall be submitted to the voters of said City or
County at the next general or Congressional election af-
ter the report of said charter to said Mayor of Balti-
more or President of the Board of County Commission-
ers; and if a majority of the votes cast for and against

'" Added by Chapter 416, Acts of 1914, ratified November 2,
1915.
^m Thus amended by Chapter 192, Acts of 1963, ratified No-
vember 3, 1964.

Constitution of Maryland

the adoption of said charter shall be in favor of such
adoption, the said charter from and after the thirtieth
day from the date of such election shall become the law
of said City or County, subject only to the Constitution
and Public General Laws of this State, and any public
local laws inconsistent with the provisions of said char-
ter and any former charter of the City of Baltimore or
County shall be thereby repealed.

SEC. 1A.¹⁶⁰ The procedure provided in this section
for adoption of a charter may be used in any county in
lieu of the procedures provided in Section 1 of this Arti-
cle, and a charter adopted pursuant to this section has
the effect of a charter adopted in accordance with the
provisions of Section 1. The board of county commis-
sioners of any county at any time may appoint a char-
ter board. Said charter board shall be registered voters
and shall consist of an uneven number of members, not
fewer than five or more than nine. The board of county
commissioners shall appoint a charter board within
thirty days after receiving a petition signed by five per-
cent of the registered voters of the county or by ten
thousand voters of the county, whichever is the lesser
number. If additional charter board members are nomi-
nated by petitions signed by three percent of the regis-
tered voters of the county or by two thousand regis-
tered voters, whichever is the lesser number, delivered
to the board of county commissioners within sixty days
after the charter board is appointed, the board of coun-
ty commissioners shall call a special election not less
than thirty or more than ninety days after receiving pe-
titions, unless a regular election falls within the desig-
nated period. The appointees of the board of county
commissioners and those nominated by petitions shall
be placed on the ballot in alphabetical order without
party designation. The voters may cast votes for, and
elect a number of nominees equal to the number of
charter board members orig-nally selected by the board
of county cnmmissinners, and those so elected are the
charter board. The charter board, within twelve months
from the date of its appointment, or if there was an
election for some of its members, within twelve months
from the date of the election, shall present a proposed
charter for the county to the board of county commis-
sioners, which shall publish it at least twice in one or
more newspapers of general circulation in the county
within thirty days after it is presented. The charter shall
be submitted to the voters of the county at a special or
regular election held not earlier than thirty days or later
than ninety days after publication of the charter. If a
majority of the votes cast for and against the adoption
of the charter are in favor of its adoption, the charter
shall become effective as the charter of the county on
the thirtieth day after the election or such later date as
shall be specified in the charter.

SEC. 2.¹⁶¹ The General Assembly shall by public
general law provide a grant of express powers for such
County or Counties as may thereafter form a charter
under the provisions of this Article. Such express pow-
ers granted to the Counties and the powers heretofore