ARTICLE II.

EXECUTIVE DEEAKTMENT.

SECTION 1 .^ The executive powcr of the State shall
be vested in a Governor, whose term of office shall com-
mence on the third Wednesday of January next ensuing his
election, and continue for four years, and until his successor
shall have qualified; and a person who has served two
consecutive popular elective terms of office as Governor
shall be ineligible to succeed himself as Governor for the
term immediately following the second of said two consec-
utive popular elective terms.

SEC. 1 A.26 There shall be a Lieutenant Governor, who
shall have only the duties delegated to him by the Governor
and shall have such compensation as the General Assembly
shall provide by law, except that beginning in the year 1978
the salary of the Lieutenant Governor shall be as provided
under Section 21A of this Article. No person who is ineli-
gible under this Constitution to be elected Governor shall
be eligible to hold the office of Lieutenant Governor.

SEC. IB.27 Each candidate who shall seek a nomina-
tion for Governor, under any method provided by law for
such nomination, including primary elections, shall at the
time of filing for said office designate a candidate for
Lieutenant Governor, and the names of the said candidate
for Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be listed on
the primary election ballot, or otherwise considered for
nomination jointly with each other. No candidate for
Governor may designate a candidate for Lieutenant Gov-
ernor to contest for the said offices jointly with him
without the consent of the said candidate for Lieutenant
Governor, and no candidate for Lieutenant Governor may
designate a candidate for Governor, to contest jointly for
said offices with him without the consent of the said
candidate for Governor, said consent to be in writing on a
form provided for such purpose and filed at the time the
said candidates shall file their certificates of candidacy, or
other documents by which they seek nomination. In any
election, including a primary election, candidates for Gov-
ernor and Lieutenant Governor shall be listed jointly on
the ballot, and a vote cast for the candidate for Governor
shall also be cast for Lieutenant Govcrnorjointly listed on
the ballot with him, and the election of Governor, or the
nomination of a candidate for Governor, also shall consti-
tute the election for the same term, or the nomination, of
the Lieutenant Governor who was listed on the ballot or
was being considered jointly with him.

SEC. 2.28 An election for Governor and Lieutenant
Governor, under this Constitution, shall be held on the
Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, in the
year nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and on the same
day and month in every fourthyear thereafter, at the places
of voting for Delegates to the General Assembly; and every
person qualified to vote for Delegates, shall be qualified
and entitled to vote for Governor and Lieutenant Gover-
nor; the election to be held in the same manner as the
election of Delegates, and the returns thereof, under seal,
to be addressed to the Speaker of the House of Delegates,

Constitution of Maryland/641

and enclosed and transmitted to the Secretary of State, and
delivered to said Speaker, at the commencement of the
session of the General Assembly, next ensuing said election.

SEC. 3.29 The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall
then open the said Returns, in the presence of both Houses;
and the persons having the highest number of votes for
these offices, and being Constitutionally eligible, shall be
the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and shall qualify,
in the manner herein prescribed, on the third Wednesday
of January next ensuing his election, or as soon thereafter
as may be practicable.

SEC. 4.30 If two or more sets of persons shall have the
highest and an equal number of votes for Governor and
Lieutenant Governor, one set of them shall be chosen
Governor and Lieutenant Governor, by the Senate and
House of Delegates; and all questions in relation to the
eligibility of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and to
the Returns of said election, and to the number and legality
of votes therein given, shall be determined by the House
of Delegates; and if the person having the highest number
of votes for Governor or for Lieutenant Governor or both
of them, be ineligible, a person or persons shall be chosen
by the Senate and House of Delegates in place of the
ineligible person or porsons. Every election of Governor
or ofLieutenant Governor, or both, by the General Assem-
bly shall be determined by a joint majority of the Senate
and House of Delegates; and the vote shall be taken viva
voce. But if two or more sets of persons shall have the
highest and an equal number of votes, then, a second vote
shall be taken, which shall be confined to the sets of persons
having an equal number; and if the vote should again be
equal, then the election of Governor and Lieutenant Gov-
ernor shall be determined by lot between those sets, who
shall have the highest and an equal number on the first vote.

SEC. 5.31 A person to be eligible for the office of
Governor or Lieutenant Governor must have attained the
age of thirty years, and must have been a resident and
registered voter of the State for five years next immediately
preceding his election.

SEC. 6.32 (a) If the Governor-elect is disqualified,
resigns, or dies, the Lieutenant Governor-elect shall be-
come Governor for the full term. If the Governor-elect fails
to assume office for any other reason, the newly elected
Lieutenant Governor shall become Lieutenant Governor
and shall serve as acting Governor until the Governor-elect
assumes office or until the office becomes vacant.

(b) The Lieutenant Governor shall serve as acting
Governor when notified in writing by the Governor that
the Governor will be temporarily unable to perform the
duties of his office. The Lieutenant Governor also shall
serve as acting Governor when the Governor is disabled
but is unable to communicate to the Lieutenant Governor
the fact of his inability to perform the duties of his office.
In either event the Lieutenant Governor shall serve as
acting Governor until notified in writing by the Governor
that he is able to resume the duties of his office or until the
office becomes vacant.