958 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 793

1A. The members of the county council of any county
adopting a charter under said Article XIA shall be elected
on the general ticket by the qualified voters of such county
as the members of the General Assembly are or may be
elected under the provisions of the law of the State of
Maryland, and members of the county council shall be like-
wise nominated as members of the General Assembly are
or may be nominated under provisions of the law of the
State of Maryland.

IB. No citizen of any chartered county, who is a regis-
tered voter therein, shall be prohibited from being a can-
didate for or serving in the county council if elected on
the general ticket by a majority of the qualified voters of
said county.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall
take effect June 1, 1945.

Approved April 27, 1945.

CHAPTER 793.
(Senate Bill 630)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, sub-
section (5) of Section 3 of Article 73B of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1943 Supp. ), title "Pensions, " relat-
ing to membership of elected and appointed officials in
the Employees' Retirement System.

SECTION!. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That sub-section (5) of Section 3 of Article 73B of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1943 Supp. ), title 'Ten-
sions, " be and the same is hereby repealed and re-enacted,
with amendments, to read as follows:

3.

(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this
Article, membership in the retirement system shall be
optional with any class of elected officials, or with any
class of officials appointed for fixed terms. Such elected or
appointed officials now in office may become members of
the Employees' Retirement System by making application
for such membership within six months after the effective
date of this Act. All officials hereafter elected or appointed