J. MILLARD TAWES, GOVERNOR                             1483

way in its purview and is State-wide in application, I felt compelled
to veto the same.

Respectfully,

(S) J. MILLARD TAWES,

JMT:ss                                                                           Governor.

Senate Bill No. 352—Baltimore City Registration Records

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 37 of
Article 33 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition),
title "Elections", sub-title "Registration by Permanent Boards of
Registry", relating to the information required on records of
permanent voting registration in Baltimore City. PROVIDING
THAT CERTAIN INFORMATION FROM REGISTRATION
AND VOTING RECORDS IN BALTIMORE CITY SHALL NOT
BE RELEASED OR FURNISHED, EXCEPT IN SPECIFIED
CASES.

May 5, 1959.

Honorable George W. Della
President of the Senate
State House
Annapolis, Maryland

Dear Mr. President:

I have today vetoed Senate Bill No. 352. I feel that the thought
behind this bill was commendable, in that the Senator who intro-
duced it had in mind abolishing any vestige of race discrimination
insofar as balloting in elections was concerned. However, a review of
this legislation as enacted reveals that it has other features which
might well arm those who would violate the sanctity of the ballot
with a cogent tool.

I am referring to the fact that this bill in effect prohibits furnishing
to anyone except an official agency of the State or a city any infor-
mation as to the race or color of a voter. There is a great basic
principle which should be protected, and that is that registration lists
should be kept open for public inspection, and there should be no
denial of public access to them. Under the guise of seeking to elimi-
nate possible race discrimination by restricting access to public regis-
tration records, we might do much do undermine our democratic
processes.

For this reason, I am compelled to veto Senate Bill No. 352, and
have so done.

Respectfully,

(s) J. MILLARD TAWES,

JMT/F/db                                                                       Governor.

Senate Bill No. 375—Clams

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Sub-sections (a),
(f) and (g) of Section 712 of Article 66C of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1957 Edition), title "Natural Resources", sub-title