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1892.] OF TH;E HOUSE OF DELEGATES. 611
Clerk's office of said county, as Clerk thereof, and
James E. Chaney against Charles S. Parran, the latter
being the present incumbent of the office of Register
of Wills of said county as Register thereof, all of
whom contestees were returned as elected to the Gov-
ernor, respectfully submit this their report in the
above recited cases.
There can be no question as to the jurisdiction of
the House to hear and determine such contested elec-
tion cases as appear from the record ; certainly none
as to the contests made for seats in that Body, as the
Constitution makes each House the judge of the quali-
fication and election of its members. Concerning the
contests made by officers, other than members of the
House, the law in pursuance of the Constitution is
equally clear and explicit, and as this position is set-
tled by numerous precedents we can pass from this
branch of the case, and present the facts as disclosed
by the evidence. Having as briefly stated the evi-
dence as the circumstances will permit, we will then
apply the law to the facts and arrive at the conclusion
to which they both may lead.
The contestants and contestees were respectively
the candidates of the Republican and Democrtic parties
of Calvert county, at an election that took place in
that county on the 3rd day of November, 1891.
This election was held under the provisions of the
Act of 1880, chapter 538, commonly known as the
"Australian Ballot Law." Calvert county is divided
into three election districts, and the first of these dis-
tricts into two voting precincts designated as First
or Solomons Island, and Second or St. Leonard's Pre-
cincts. The issues between the contestant and con-
testees arise in the second or St. Leonard's Precinct.
On the morning of the election before referred to,
the duly appointed officers, to wit: three judges of
election, two ballot clerks and the usual number of
tally clerks, assembled at the polling place for the
Second Precinct in the First Election District of Cal-
vert county for the purpose of holding the election.
They then qualified by taking the oath of oifice as pre-
scribed by law. The hour having arrived for open-
ing the polls, the packages containing the ballots that
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