6 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [July 27

(3) The third proposal is the re-enactment of the Absentee Voting-
Law for servicemen and women in essentially the same form as the
Act which permitted men and women absent on military duty to
participate in elections during World War II.

Appropriate bills embodying these legislative proposals have
been prepared by the State Law Department and will be ready for
introduction and consideration immediately upon the formal con-
vening of your session.

The date of September 18 has been proposed as the alternate date
for the holding of the primary elections, to avoid conflict with the
Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, because it is traditional that the
elections held by the parties for the nomination of candidates be
held on Monday.

If the primary elections were moved ahead a week, rather than
postponed for a week, there would be conflict with the Labor Day
holiday.

Because of the experience in some sections of Baltimore City
during the precinct registration conducted between 2 P. M. and
10 P. M. on July 10, another day of registration in the precincts
appears necessary to accommodate the convenience of eligible per-
sons who wish to qualify as voters.

In some areas, the turnout of prospective registrants was too
great for their expeditious accommodation during the eight-hour
period provided by the 1949 General Asseembly for the holding of
the precinct registration in Baltimore City.

Based on the tabulations of the result of the July 10 precinct
registration, the elections officials of Baltimore are confident that
an additional day of registration in the precinct will be sufficient for
the convenient handling of the anticipated volume as indicated in
the breakdown of the July 10 figures.

In order that this problem may be met in Baltimore City without
disrupting the existing arrangements for supplemental registrations
in the counties, the proposed legislation will embody a provision
for the holding of these registrations in the counties as originally
scheduled.

Since the issuance on July 17 of the proclamation convening this
extraordinary session of the General Assembly, the international
situation has deteriorated to the point where partial mobilization
has been instituted as a measure of national security.

So that the franchise of those who may be called for military duty
will be protected, I recommend the re-enactment of the Absentee
Voting statute to permit those away from the State in the armed
services to exercise their voting privileges.

This statute, you will recall, establishes a bi-partisan Commission
to regulate, within the framework of the statute, the issuance of