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 election 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 without any indication of the
source of their nomination, and shall also be so arranged as to
permit the voter to vole 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 County
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 charter shall be submitted to the voters of
said City or County at the next general or Congressional election
after the report of said charter to said Mayor of Baltimore or
President of the Board of County Commissioners; and if a
majority of the votes cast for and against 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 charter
and any former charter of the City of Baltimore or County shall
be thereby repealed.

SEC. 1A.'⁷⁵ 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 Article, 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 commissioners of any county at any time may appoint a
charter 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 percent 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 nominat-
ed by petitions signed by three percent of the registered voters of
the county or by two thousand registered 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 county commissioners shall call a special election not less than
thirty or more than ninety days after receiving petitions, unless a
regular election falls within the designated 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

'"Added by Chapter 786, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970.

Constitution of Maryland/701

members originally selected by the board of county commission-
ers, 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 commissioners, 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. 2.¹⁷⁶ 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 powers granted to the Counties and the powers
heretofore granted to the City of Baltimore, as set forth in Article
4, Section 6, Public Local Laws of Maryland, shall not be
enlarged or extended by any charter formed under the provisions
of this Article, but such powers may be extended, modified,
amended or repealed by the General Assembly.

SEC. 3.'⁷⁷ Every charter so formed shall provide for an elective
legislative body in which shall be vested the lawmaking power of
said City or County. Such legislative body in the City of
Baltimore shall be known as the City Council of the City of
Baltimore, and in any county shall be known as the County
Council of the County. The chief executive officer, if any such
charter shall provide for the election of such executive officer, or
the presiding officer of said legislative body, if such charter shall
not provide for the election of a chief executive officer, shall be
known in the City of Baltimore as Mayor of Baltimore, and in
any County as the President or Chairman of the County Council
of the County, and all references in the Constitution and laws of
this State to the Mayor of Baltimore and City Council of the City
of Baltimore or to the County Commissioners of the Counties,
shall be construed to refer to the Mayor of Baltimore and City
Council of the City of Baltimore and to the President or
Chairman and County Council herein provided for whenever
such construction would be reasonable. From and after the
adoption of a charter by the City of Baltimore, or any County of
this State, as hereinbefore provided, the Mayor of Baltimore and
City Council of the City of Baltimore or the County Council of
said County, subject to the Constitution and Public General Laws
of this State, shall have full power to enact local laws of said City
or County including the power to repeal or amend local laws of
said City or County enacted by the Genera] Assembly, upon all
matters covered by the express powers granted as above provided;
provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to
authorize or empower the County Council of any County in this
State to enact laws or regulations for any incorporated town,
village, or municipality in said County, on any matter covered by
the powers granted to said town, village, or municipality by the
Act incorporating it, or any subsequent Act or Acts amendatory
thereto. Provided, however, that the charters for the various
Counties shall specify the number of days, not to exceed forty-
five, which may but need not be consecutive, that the County
Council of the Counties may sit in each year for the purpose of
enacting legislation for such Counties, and all legislation shall be
enacted at the times so designated for that purpose in the charter,
and the title or a summary of all laws and ordinances proposed
shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to
enactment followed by publication once after enactment in at
least one newspaper of general circulation in the county, so that
the taxpayers and citizens may have notice thereof. The validity