1042 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [Ch. 680]

passed shall have been counted and the returns completed. If
in case of absolute necessity, any judge or clerk in attendance
shall be compelled to absent himself, he shall appoint some fit
person to act in his stead until his return, having first admin-
istered to such substitute the same oath as he himself has taken.
Blank forms for the appointment of such substitute judges and
clerks and oath aforesaid shall be supplied by the city register
and the oath when administered, shall be preserved and returned
by the judges to said city register. The appointment and
swearing in of all such substitutes, and the reason therefor,
and the time when such substitutes begin and cease to serve
shall be noted by the judge in the poll book of the precinct;
such substitute shall cease to act whenever the judge or clerk
in whose stead he was appointed shall be present.

SEC. 270YY. The judges of election at the opening of the
polls, if requested, shall appoint not more than two persons to
act as challengers who shall be assigned to such positions near
the judges of election inside the registration polling room, as
to enable them to see each person as he offers to register or
vote, and they shall be protected in the discharge of their duties
by the judges of election and the police. Such challenger and
watcher shall have the right to remain in the polling room out-
side the rail hereinafter mentioned, from the time the polls
are opened until they are closed, and after that time he shall
be permitted to remain within the rail until the returns arc
completed. The refusal to permit any such challenger so to
remain shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceed-
ing one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding
one year or both fine and imprisonment, but it shall be unlaw-
ful for any challenger to inquire or ascertain for what candi-
date or candidates, any voter may intend to vote or has voted,
or to confer in the polling room with any voter, or to assist
him in the preparation of his ballot, and any challenger offer-
ing or attempting to do so may lawfully be ejected by the
judges, and shall also be subject to the punishment hereinafter
provided. Citizens other than accredited challengers or watch-
ers who desire to challenge a vote of any person then inside
the polling room, shall be permitted to enter said room for
that purpose, but a majority of the judges may limit the num-
ber of persons to be allowed in the polling room at any one time
for such purpose. And all such persons shall leave the polling
room as soon as the right to vote of the persons challenged by
them shall have been decided.