1534 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 934

five days from the receipt of such notice and in the presence
of the principals involved in any such contest or their author-
ized representatives, shall proceed to inspect and examine the
voting machines containing the votes cast for such contested
office, and shall make a record of the votes for such office as
shown on said machine; they shall duly certify said record
as correct, shall affix their signatures thereto and preserve
the same for use in such contest as evidence of the votes cast
for such office upon said machines. Such record shall be re-
ceived as evidence as fully as if proved by the oral testimony
of the persons who shall sign the same, or by the production
of said voting machines in court or before said Board. After
such inspection, examination and recording of the results
thereof the said voting machines shall be released and made
available for use in any succeeding election.

91. Whenever it shall appear that there is a discrepancy in
the returns of any precinct, or, upon petition of three voters of
any precinct, verified by affidavit, that an error, although not
apparent on the face of the returns, has been committed therein,
the Board of Canvassers shall, at any time prior to the com-
pletion of the computation of all the returns for the city, sum-
mon the judges of election of the precinct, and said judges, in
the presence of said Board, shall make a record of the number
of the seal upon the voting machine, and the number on the
protective counter or other device, shall make visible the regis-
tering counters of such machine, and, without unlocking the
machine against voting, shall recanvass the vote cast thereon.
Before making such recanvass, the said Board shall give notice
in writing to the custodian of voting machines, and to each
candidate, and to the chairman of the county or city commit-
tee of each party affected by the canvass, and each such candi-
date may be present in person, or by attorney, and each of
such parties may send two representatives to be present at
such recanvass. If, upon such recanvass, it shall be found that
the original canvass of the returns has been correctly made
from the machine, and that the discrepancy still remains un-
accounted for, the said Board, with the assistance of the cus-
todian, in the presence of the judges of election and the au-
thorized candidates and representatives, shall unlock the vot-
ing and counting mechanism of the machine, and shall proceed
thoroughly to examine and test the machine to determine and
reveal the true cause or causes, if any, of the discrepancy in
returns from such machine. Each counter stall be reset at
zero (000) before it is tested, after which it shall be operated
at least one hundred times. After the completion of such
examination and test, the custodian shall then and there pre-
pare a statement, in writing, giving in detail the result of the
examination and test, and such statement shall be witnessed