HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 15

unopened, unmarked and unchanged in any way, in packages
sealed by him, to the Board named on the outside of said
State Return Envelopes and to the appropriate Board dis-
closed by the address of the Absentee Resident on the Federal
Ballot Envelope. The Secretary of State shall require each
Board receiving from him Ballot Envelopes to give him
receipts showing the date of such delivery and the number of
Ballot Envelopes delivered.

If a State or Federal Ballot Envelope is delivered to the
wrong Board, such Board shall immediately send said Ballot
Envelope unopened, unmarked and unchanged in any way to
the proper Board.

All Return Envelopes, both State and Federal, received by
the Secretary of State after the date of any election shall be
preserved by him for six months and then destroyed, unless
prior to that time he be ordered by a court of competent juris-
diction to keep the same for any longer period. The receipts
given the Secretary of State by the several Boards shall be
also kept by him for the same period.

313. REGISTRATION OF ABSENTEE RESIDENTS. Upon receipt
by a Board at any time prior to the closing of the polls on
election day of a State or Federal Ballot Envelope from an
Absentee Resident, said Board shall forthwith determine
whether such Absentee Resident is already registered as a
voter. If such Absentee Resident is registered, his Absentee
Ballot shall be safely kept by the Board and counted and can-
vassed at the proper time as in this sub-title provided. If the
Board shall determine that such Absentee is not registered or
if the Board is unable to determine whether such Absentee
Resident is or is not registered, said Board shall accept the
information, set forth in his duly executed oath on the said
Ballot Envelope, as prima facie accurate and correct, and if
such information discloses that said Absentee Resident is (a)
a citizen of the United States, (b) will be twenty-one years
or older on the day of the election for which said ballot is
offered, (c) has been a resident of Maryland for a year preced-
ing said election, (d) has been a resident for 6 months preced-
ing the day of said election of the election district or ward in
which his residence in Maryland is located, and (e) is not dis-
qualified to vote by the commission of crime, said Board shall
register such Absentee Resident, and shall then safely keep said
absentee ballot and count and canvass the same as provided in
this sub-title.

The signature of such Absentee Resident in subscribing said
oath shall be accepted in lieu of the customary signature of
voters in the registration books or cards; provided, however,