938                                  LAWS OF MARYLAND                          [CH. 392

27-8. Instructions to Voters.

The printed instructions for the casting of absentee ballots are
as follows:

Instructions to Voters

Enclosed are a State Absentee Ballot, Ballot Envelope and a Re-
turn Envelope for use in returning the ballot. Warning: Failure to
follow these instructions will invalidate the ballot.

(a)    Examine the ballot before marking. When once marked, do
not erase. 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 question (if any appear on the ballot),
for or against which you wish to vote. Do not vote for more candi-
dates than the number specified over the names of candidates for
each 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 Envelope(s) 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.

The ballot may be marked and mailed at any time after you receive
it but it must be received by the appropriate Board of 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.

(f)    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.

(g)    The Absentee Voting Law provides that anyone who wil-
fully signs any false application or oath, or who wilfully does any
act contrary 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.

(h) If any qualified voter desiring to vote by absentee ballot pur-
suant to Section 27-2 herein is unable by reason of blindness or
physical disability, without assistance, to mark a ballot and sign