1803.

NOVEMBER LAWS OF MARYLAND.

CHAP. XCIII.

Passed 7th of
January, 1804.

A Further supplement to the act, entitled, An ad to erect Baltimore-
town, in Baltimore county, into a city, and to incorporate the
inhabitants thereof.

Preamble.

WHEREAS it is represented to this general assembly, by the petition of the Inhabitants of the
city of Baltimore, that under the operation of their charter of incorporation they experience
many inconveniencies, resulting from the mode of choosing the mayor and second branch of the city
council, and the period for which they are respectively elected, and praying that the said charter of
incorporation may be amended in the instances therein set forth; therefore,

Mayor, &.c.
how to be elect-
ed, &c.

II. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the mayor of the city of Baltimore,
and the members of the first and second branch of the city council, shall hereafter be elected by
ballot. In the same manner as delegates to the general assembly.

When elections
are to be held,
&c.

III. AND BE IT ENACTED, That on the first Monday in October, eighteen hundred and five, and
on the first Monday in October in every year thereafter, the mayor shall be elected by a plurality
of all the ballots given in by the voters qualified to vote in the respective wards of the said city,
and the judges of the said election in the several wards shall conduct the same in the manner and
form prescribed by the act: to regulate elections, and the supplements thereto, and shall make return
accordingly, under their hand and seal, of the person so elected mayor, and lodge the said return
with the register of the city, and in case two or more persons shall have an equal number of ballots
for the office of mayor, the said judges shall determine by lot, before they separate, which of the
said persons, so having an equal number of ballots, shall be appointed to the office of mayor, and
shall make their return accordingly.

Mayor may
continue in
office three
years, &c

IV. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the mayor shall not continue in office longer than three years
successively, nor be eligible as mayor until the expiration of two years after he shall have been out
of office; and in case of vacancy, by the death, resignation or removal of the said mayor, the mem-
bers of the first and second branch of the city council shall immediately convene, upon the notifica-
tion of the register of the city, whose duty it shall be to make such notification, and the members
of the said first and second branch of the city council, when so convened, shall proceed, by their
joint ballot, to fill up the said vacancy for the remainder of the year.

Voters to as-
semble, &c.

V. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the voters in the several wards of the said city, qualified to vote
for delegates to the general assembly, shall on the first Monday in Oclober, eighteen hundred and
five, and on the first Monday In October in every year thereafter, assemble at the usual place of
holding the elections in their respective wards, and shall elect, by ballot, two members to represent
the said ward in the first branch of the city council, and the persons so elected shall be residents of
the ward for which they are elected, and shall have the same qualifications in every resped as de-
legates to the general assembly.

Second branch,
when to be e-
lected, &c.

VI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the voters in the several wards of the said city, qualified as
aforesaid, shall, on the first Monday in Oclober, eighteen hundred and five, and on the first Monday
in Oclober in every second year thereafter, assemble at the usual place of holding the elections in
their respective wards, and shall elect, by ballot, one member to represent the said ward in the se-
cond branch of the city council, and the person so elected shall be a resident of the ward for which
he is ele.cted, and shall have the same qualifications in every respect as delegates to the general as-
sembly.

Persons voted
for to be desig-
nated, &c.

VII. AND BE IT ENACTED, That in all cases the names of persons voted for, and the offices to
which they are respectively elected, shall be designated in each ballot; and the judges of the said
elections shall conduct the same in the manner and form prescribed by the act to regulate elections,
and the supplements thereto, shall make their return accordingly, and deposit the same, with their
polls, in the of the of the register of the city, and it shall be the duty of the said register to notify
the persons so elected; and in case of vacancy or vacancies in either branch of the city council, the
same shall be supplied by election, in the same manner as vacancies in the first branch are directed
to be supplied, by the original act,

No person to
be eligible, &c.

VIII. AND BE IT ENACTED, That no person shall be eligible to the office of mayor or register,
or as a member or as clerk, of either branch of the city council, who holds an office of profit or