8 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 3

liberally construed to effectuate its purposes; making cer-
tain acts criminal offenses and prescribing penalties there-
for; suspending all laws inconsistent with this Act to the
extent of such inconsistency; and providing for the sever-
ability of the various provisions of this Act.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That twenty-five (25) new sections be and they are
hereby added to Article 33 of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land (1947 Supplement), title "Elections", said new sections
to be known as Sections 129-153, inclusive, to follow im-
mediately after Section 128 of said Article, to be under the
new sub-title "Voting by Mail", and to read as follows:

VOTING BY MAIL

129. It is hereby declared lo be the purpose of the General
Assembly of Maryland, in enacting this sub-title, to provide
that absentee residents of this State, as herein defined, at the
time of any election, as herein defined, shall be given the right
and every possible opportunity to register and vote by mail
in any such election to the full extent permitted by the Consti-
tution of this State; and, further, to protect such absentee
residents in the exercise of those rights, and to correlate in
so far as the Constitution of the United States and the Consti-
tution of this State permit, the provisions of this sub-title
with all Acts of Congress relating to voting by mail by such
absentee residents; and to permit and facilitate the general
cooperation of this State and its election officials and com-
missions ivith every department, commission or agency of the
United States to which the carrying out of the provisions of
such Act of Congress may be delegated and committed.

130. For the purposes of this sub-title and unless otherwise
required by the content:

(1) An "Absentee Resident" means a resident of Maryland,
(a) qualified to vote under its Constitution as to age, citizen-
ship and length of residence and not disfranchised because
of crime, and (b) who is absent and engaged in the military
or naval service of the United States as herein defined, and
(c) who, because of such absence, is unable to vote in person
at any election, as herein defined, in the ward or election
district in this State in which he was a resident at the time
of his entry or induction into the armed forces of the United
States, or into any of the organizations, work or services
hereinafter set forth; provided that, at the time his ballot is
received, as in this sub-title provided, he is either already
registered as a voter according to the Election Laws of this
State, exclusive of this sub-title, or becomes so registered by
mail under this sub-title.