Theodore R. McKeldin, Governor                   1295

attached to or serving with the armed forces of the United States
outside of the United States;

(4) All such absentee residents who have been honorably dis-
charged from the armed forces of the United States too late to
register or vote as required, except for the provisions of this sub-title.

For all purposes of this sub-title, an Absentee Resident shall be
deemed and held to have resided continuously in the ward or elec-
tion district in which he resided at the time he first left to become
absent and engaged in the military or naval service of the United
States, as herein defined, for the entire period he has been so absent
and engaged.

(d)  The term "United States", when used geographically in this
sub-title, means only the territorial limits of the several States of
the United States and the District of Columbia.

(e)  "Election'' shall mean any primary or general State-wide elec-
tion, or any primary, general or special Congressional Election held
in this State.

(f)  "Board" or "Supervisors" means the Boards of Supervisors
of Elections of the several counties of the State and of Baltimore
City.

244. Absentee Ballot. (a) Voting. Every Absentee Resident shall
be entitled to vote at any election in the manner hereinafter pro-
vided in this sub-title.

(b)  Application. At any time before any election, any Absentee
Resident who has reason to believe that because of his status as
such he will be unable to vote in person at such election, may make
application in writing to the Secretary of State of Maryland request-
ing that he be sent a State Absentee Ballot. Such application shall
be signed by the applicant and shall disclose the applicant's full
name and last home address in Maryland, the address to which
the Absentee Ballot shall be sent, and that he is in the armed forces
of the United States or otherwise has a status which entitles him to
vote as an Absentee Resident. The Secretary of State shall imme-
diately forward to the appropriate Board each such application
received by him. As soon as an application is received by a Board
it shall mail the applicant a State Absentee Ballot as hereinafter
provided. The informality of any application, including any made
in accordance with Section 245 of this sub-title, or failure to include
therein all the data prescribed above shall not invalidate the appli-
cation and each Board receiving a written or printed request for
an Absentee Ballot signed by the applicant shall honor the same if
it is possible to ascertain from the request or otherwise the name
of the individual seeking the ballot and the address to which the
ballot is to be sent.

(c)  Time for Application. An Absentee Resident shall be entitled
to be sent a State Absentee Ballot as hereinabove provided only if
the application therefor is received by the appropriate Board at least
five days before the date of an election.

(d)  Form of Application. Notwithstanding any other provisions
of this sub-title, any form of application for the right or means to
vote as an Absentee Resident or to secure an Absentee Ballot or