Theodore R. McKeldin, Governor                     303

Instructions to Voters

Enclosed herewith are a State Absentee Ballot, Ballet Envelope and
a Return Envelope for use in returning the ballot. You are entitled to
vote if you will be unavoidably absent from the State of Maryland for
good cause which requires you to be elsewhere on that day.

(a)  Examine the ballot before marking. When once marked, do
not erase, as an erasure will invalidate the ballot. Mark the ballot
with either pencil or ink by placing an (X) in the block after each
candidate for whom you wish to vote and in the appropriate block
after each constitutional amendment, referendum or any other ques-
tion (if any appear on the ballot), for or against which you wish to
vote. Be sure not to vote for any number of candidates for any office
greater than the number specified over the names of candidates for
that office. The ballot must be marked secretly. Do not sign your
name or put on the ballot any mark of identification or any other
mark except the (X) mark or the name of a written-in candidate.

(b)  Then enclose the ballot in the "Ballot Envelope" and seal the
same.

(c)  After sealing the Ballot Envelope, you must, in the presence
of a witness, fill in the blanks in the "Oath of Absentee Resident" on
the Ballot Envelopes and sign (Do not print) your name on the line
indicated. You must then swear to the Oath before the witness who
must fill in the date, sign his name and indicate his official^ position
in the space provided, and, if a notary public, affix his official seal.
The witness must be a notary public or other person authorized to
administer oaths.

(d)  It is absolutely necessary that the "Ballot Envelope" contains
nothing but one ballot marked by you.

(e)  Enclose the "Ballot Envelope" in the "Return Envelope", seal
the "Return Envelope" and mail at once.

(f)  The ballot may be marked and mailed at any time after you re-
ceive it but it must be received by the appropriate Supervisors of
Elections not later than the closing of the polls on election day. If it
is not received prior to such closing, it will not be counted.

(g)  If, in any election other than a primary, you desire not to
vote for any of the candidates named for any office on the ballot, you
may write in, in the appropriate blank on the ballot, the name of the
person of your choice for such office.

(h) The Absentee Voting Law provides that anyone who wilfully
signs any false application or oath, or who wilfully does any act con-
trary to the terms and provisions of the Absentee Voting Law with
intent to cast an illegal vote or to aid another in doing so, or who
wilfully violates any of the provisions of that law or who applies for
a ballot under any other name than his own, shall, upon conviction, be
subject to a fine of $1,000 or to imprisonment for not more than two
years, or to both, in the discretion of the Court.

(i) If any qualified voter desiring to vote by absentee ballot pur-
suant to Section 16IB herein is unable by reason of blindness or
physical disability, without assistance, to mark a ballot and sign the
oath on the ballot envelope, any notary public or other person au*