1498 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 934

of the County to which the same shall have been paid by the
Supervisors of Elections, and used in defraying the expenses
of such primary election.

52. Nominations for Mayor, Comptroller, President of the
City Council and members of the City Council of Baltimore
City shall be made by direct vote of the respective political
parties at primary elections to be held in all respects accord-
ing to the foregoing provisions, except that the day for hold-
ing the same shall be the first Tuesday of April in the years
in which the municipal elections in said city are to be held. Any
person registered as affiliated with a given political party shall
have the right to vote the official ballot of that party only. Any
registered voter who has declined to affiliate with any political
party and opposite whose name under the column "Party affil-
iation" is written the word "declined", or any other word
showing a failure to affiliate with any political party, and who
has not affiliated with some political party prior to the pri-
mary election shall not be permitted to vote at such primary
election, or any subsequent primary election until he has so
affiliated with the party in whose primary he desires to vote.

53. (a) Every candidate for the nomination for a State
office, that is to say, an office filled by the vote of all the reg-
istered voters of the State of Maryland, shall be nominated
by conventions, the delegates to which shall be elected in ac-
cordance with the provisions of this Article by the direct vote
of the registered voters belonging to the political party of
which the candidate is a member, and whose nomination for
such office he is seeking; the ballots in such cases shall con-
tain the names of the candidates for public office, delegates to
party conventions and managing bodies, executives or execu-
tive committee to be voted for as provided in the aforegoing
sections, and in addition thereto and in the same manner the
names of all candidates for State offices, who have duly qualified
to have their names placed upon such ballot in the manner pro-
vided by this Article.

(b) The candidate receiving the highest vote in any county
or legislative district shall receive the vote of the delegates
from such county or legislative district in the State Convention,
and the Supervisors of Elections in Baltimore City and the
counties of the State shall issue to the delegates elected to each
State convention of such parties, a certificate of election, which
certificate shall also contain the result of such primary elec-
tion balloting, and such certificate shall be accepted as the
credentials of such delegation in such convention of such party
and as the instructions of the voters of such party in
such county and legislative district of Baltimore City as to