ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR.                  555

applicant to cast his ballot, and should the answer of said
applicant be in the negative to one or more of said questions,
then and in that event he shall not be allowed to vote. Should
the applicant answer one or more of the above questions falsely
he shall be guilty of the crime of perjury and subject to the
penalties provided by the laws of the State of Maryland.
Immediately upon the closing of the polls, the judges of the
election shall proceed to count the ballots but no ballot cast
by a voter dwelling in one ward for a candidate for the office
of Councilmen of another ward, and no ballot cast for more
than one candidate for the office of Mayor, shall be counted.
The counting of the ballots shall not be adjourned or postponed
until it shall have been fully completed, and the returns shall
be announced publicly and written returns fully completed and
signed by the judges and clerks of election, and sealed in an
envelope with the names of said judges and clerks signed there-
on, shall be sent, one copy to the Mayor of said town and one
copy to the Town Clerk and Treasurer, for file among the
records of the town. Any judge or clerk who declines to sign
said returns shall prepare, sign, and seal in an envelope, and
send as aforesaid, an individual return, giving his reason there-
for. The ballots shall then be returned to the ballot boxes from
which they were removed, a paper seal with the signatures
of the judges and clerks thereon shall be pasted upon said
ballot boxes in such manner that the boxes cannot be opened
without breaking said seal, and said boxes, sealed as aforesaid,
shall then be retained by the Board of Election Supervisors
for a period of thirty days after which' period of time the
boxes may be opened and the ballots destroyed.. Provided,
however, that if there be a contest of the election, said ballots
shall not be destroyed until after the decision of the Judge of
the Circuit Court for Prince George's County.

Any candidate at said elections may contest the same and
the Judge of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County
shall have jurisdiction to determine such contest and may
adopt such modes of proceeding and adjudging costs in cases
of contested election as to him may seem most just.

No such contest shall, however, be considered unless the peti-
tion for the same is filed in the Circuit Court for Prince
George's County within seven days, exclusive of Sundays and
legal holidays, after the public announcement by the Board
of Election Supervisors of the result of the election.