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 General Assembly, upon all matters covered
by the express powers granted as above provided; provided
that nothing herein contained shall be construed to author-
ize 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 ordi-
nances proposed shall be published once a week for two
successive weeks prior to enactment followed by publica-
tion 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 of emergency
legislation shall not be affected if enacted prior to the
completion of advertising thereof. These provisions con-
cerning publication shall not apply to Baltimore City. All
such local laws enacted by the Mayor of Baltimore and City
Council of the City of Baltimore or the Council of the
Counties as hereinbefore provided, shall be subject to the
same rules of interpretation as those now applicable to the
Public Local Laws of this State, except that in case of any
conflict between said local law and any Public General Law
now or hereafter enacted the Public General Law shall
control.

SEC. 3A.¹⁸³ (a) The charter for the government of any
county governed by the provisions of this Article may
provide for the election of members of the county council
by the voters of councilmanic districts therein established,
or by the voters of the entire county, or by a combination
of these methods of election.

(b) Repealed.¹⁸⁴
(c) Repealed.¹⁸⁵

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Con-
stitution, the Charter for the government of Harford
County under the provisions of this Article, either as
adopted, or by amendment, shall provide for the election
of members of the County Council by the voters of the
entire county.

SEC. 4. From and after the adoption of a charter under
the provisions of this Article by the City of Baltimore or
any County of this State, no public local law shall be

enacted by the General Assembly for said City or County
on any subject covered by the express powers granted as
above provided. Any law so drawn as to apply to two or
more of the geographical sub-divisions of this State shall
not be deemed a Local Law, within the meaning of this
Act. The term "geographical sub-division" herein used
shall be taken to mean the City of Baltimore or any of the
Counties of this State.

SEC. 5.¹⁸⁶ Amendments to any charter adopted by the
City of Baltimore or by any County of this State under the
provisions of this Article may be proposed by a resolution
of the Mayor of Baltimore and the City Council of the City
of Baltimore, or the Council of the County, or by a petition
signed by not less than 20% of the registered voters of the
City or County, provided, however, that in any case 10,000
signatures shall be sufficient to complete a petition. A
petition shall be filed with the Mayor of Baltimore or the
President of the County Council. An amendment so pro-
posed shall be submitted to the voters of the City or County
at the next general or congressional election occurring after
the passage of the resolution or the filing of the petition.
If at the election the majority of the votes cast for and
against the amendment shall be in favor thereof, the
amendment shall be adopted and become a part of the
charter of the City or County from and after the thirtieth
day after said election. The amendments shall be published
by the Mayor of Baltimore or President of the County
Council once a week for five successive weeks prior to the
election in at least one newspaper published in said City or
County.

SEC. 6. The power heretofore conferred upon the
General Assembly to prescribe the number, compensation,
powers and duties of the County Commissioners in each
county, and the power to make changes in Sections 1 to 6
inclusive, Article XI of this Constitution, when expressly
granted as hereinbefore provided, are hereby transferred to
the voters of each County and the voters of City of Balti-
more, respectively, provided that said powers so transferred
shall be exercised only by the adoption or amendment of a
charter as hereinbefore provided; and provided further that
this Article shall not be construed to authorize the exercise
of any powers in excess of those conferred by the Legisla-
ture upon said Counties or City as this Article sets forth.

SEC. 7.¹⁸⁷ The word "Petition" as used in this Article
means one or more sheets written or printed, or partly
written and partly printed. There shall be attached to each
paper of signatures filed with a petition an affidavit of the
person procuring those signatures that the signatures were
affixed in his presence and that, based upon the person's
best knowledge and belief, every signature on the paper is
genuine and bona fide and that the signers are registered
voters at the address set opposite or below their names.
The General Assembly shall prescribe by law the form of
the petition, the manner for verifying its authenticity, and
other administrative procedures which facilitate the peti-
tion process and which are not in conflict with this Article.
The false signing of any name, or the signing of any
fictitious name to said petition shall be forgery, and the
making of any false affidavit in connection with said peti-
tion shall be perjury.