1524 ARTICLE 33

to which party he belongs and which party's candidate he intends to vote
for at the State, City or County election, and every qualified person offering
to vote in the several Counties in the State at a primary election shall be
permitted to vote in the primary election of that party to which he belongs
and which party candidate he intends to vote for at the State or County
election and in Baltimore City and in the Counties. After the next general
registration in the Counties, every qualified person offering to vote at a
primary election shall be permitted to vote in the primary election of that
party only with which he shall appear upon the books of registration to
be affiliated. The respective Boards of Supervisors of Elections in the
several Counties are hereby authorized and required, immediately upon the
passage of this Act, to have prepared new books of registry for use in all of
the districts or precincts of the said several Counties for the transcribing of
the names of the qualified voters residing therein from the registration books
in use. The said transcribing shall be done in the offices of the Boards of
Supervisors of Elections by four (4) clerks to be selected, two by the Super-
visors representing the majority party and two by the Supervisors rep-
resenting the minority party as the said parties are now constituted in
this State, except Baltimore County, where said transcribing shall be
done in the office of the Board of Supervisors of Elections by twelve (12)
clerks, to be selected, six by the Supervisors representing the majority
party and six by the Supervisors representing the minority party, as the
said parties are now constituted in this State. The transcribing shall be
done by the said clerks and the new books, after being transcribed, shall
correspond in all respects, and if they do not correspond at the conclusion of
the work, or if any error in transcribing be alleged to exist, either or any
one of said clerks or any citizen or voter in any one of said Counties may
file a petition in the Circuit Court within ten days after said work is fin-
ished, naming said clerks and the Board of Supervisors of Elections as de-
fendants, and the said Court shall have the power to make such order for the
correction of said books as may be proper. The cost of such preparation of
proper registry books shall be paid by the County Commissioners of the
County in which such sub-division shall be made, upon proper requisitions
and vouchers presented by the Boards of Supervisors of Election. Any
political party that polled more than one per cent, of the votes cast at the last
election may, through its political committee, if it has one, or by citizens
representing said party, if there be no political committee, name a watcher
and substitute watcher who shall be permitted to attend at the transcribing
of said names and have power to examine the said books during the sittings
of said clerks for the said work and for a period of five days thereafter in
the presence of said Board of Supervisors. In the books of registry so pro-
vided for to be used in transcribing said registered voters in each and every
County of the State, subsequent to the passage of this Act, there shall be
provided a distinct column headed "Party Affiliations," and the Board of
Registers shall enter in this column the name of the political party, if any,
to which the voter is inclined and with which the voter desires to have him-
self recorded as affiliated. It shall be the duty of the Board of Registry to
explain to each voter that the statement of such party affiliation does not
bind him to vote for the candidate of such party at any given election; also
that he has the right to decline to state any party affiliations; but that no
one who is not recorded upon the registry as affiliated with a particular
political party will be qualified to vote at subsequent primary elections of
said political party. Whenever a voter declines to state his party affiliations,