396 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 359

same should be made shall not be sufficient cause to reject
any ballot. Any ballot which shall have upon it any mark
other than a cross (X) mark or a check (\/) mark which in
the opinion of the Judges shall appear to have been placed
thereon for the purpose of distinguishing said ballot from
others, shall be rejected by them and not counted. But no
ballot shall be wholly rejected if the voter shall properly vote
for Councilman or Mayor but improperly vote for the other,
but shall be counted for the candidate for whom the same
may be properly marked.

After the Election Officials shall have counted the ballots,
and shall have compared the poll books with the number of
ballots, and found them to be correct, they shall make dupli-
cate statements or returns of the result of the canvass of
said votes, each of which statements or returns shall contain
a caption showing the date on which said election was held
and the hours thereof, and showing the number of votes
given to each candidate designating the office for which
they were given. In case any proposition other than the elec-
tion of officials shall be submitted to the voters at any such
election under the provisions of this or any other Act of
Assembly, such results shall show in like manner the num-
ber of votes for and against such proposition. At the end
of such statements or returns there shall be a certificate
that the same are correct in all respects, and said certificate
shall be signed by all the Judges and Clerks of such elec-
tion for said precinct.

In case any Judge or Clerk shall decline to sign any such
returns, he shall make a statement of his reasons for such
refusal in duplicate, sign each of said duplicate copies of
his reasons, and such statements shall be inclosed with the
returns. Each of the above mentioned returns or state-
ments, together with one of the statements of declination,
if any there be, shall be inclosed in an envelope which shall
be then securely sealed and each of the Judges and Clerks?
for said precinct shall write his name across the fold there-
of. One of said envelopes shall be directed to the Mayor
of Mount Rainier, and the other to the Town Clerk and
Treasurer, and the Supervisors of Election for said precinct
shall take charge of these envelopes and deliver them to the
respective parties to whom they are addressed at the time
hereinafter mentioned.

The Judges and Clerks of Election for said precinct shall
put back in the ballot boxes used at said election the ballots
taken therefrom, and shall seal said ballot boxes by past-
ing a Strip of paper over the slit, upon which slip the Judges
and Clerks of Election shall sign their names so that the
boxes may not be opened without destroying said seal. The