MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                        1289

(e) Any paper which is to form a part of a certificate of candi-
dacy shall be submitted to the Board for the county or the City of
Baltimore in which the signers on the paper are alleged to reside.
The Board shall give to anyone submitting any such paper or papers
a signed receipt stating that the paper or papers are on file with the
Board. It shall be the duty of the several boards in the jurisdiction
in which the signers are alleged to be registered voters to verify the
number of legitimate signatures of persons who are registered voters.
On any petition, including an associated or included set of petitions,
submitted to the Board, any question concerning the invalidity of
the signature of any person on the petition affects that signature
only and does not affect or impair any other portion of the petition
or petitions. Following the verification, a duly authorized employee
of the Board shall endorse on each paper the number of signatures
verified by the employee and shall endorse and sign the paper. For
the purpose of the endorsement, each paper shall contain a blank
space for the endorsement. The papers shall be delivered to the
Boards not later than 9:00 P.M. on the Monday which is ten weeks
or seventy days before the day on which the primary election should
be held under the primary election law. All papers delivered to a
Board pursuant to this subsection and required to be filed with the
Secretary of State pursuant to Section 4A-2 shall, after verification
and endorsement as herein required, be mailed or delivered by the
Board to the Secretary of State, at the expense of the candidate,
within sixty (60) THIRTY (30) days after the primary election. The

CHAPTER 555
(House Bill 9)

AN ACT to add new Section 1A-1 to Article 33 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1967 Replacement Volume and 1968 Supple-
ment), title "Election Code," to follow immediately after Section
1-1 thereof, and to be under the new subtitle "State Administrative
Board of Election Laws," and to repeal and re-enact, with amend-
ments, Sections 18-1 and 18-2 of the said Article of the Code, sub-
title "Board of State Canvassers," to create a State Administrative
Board of Election Laws, to provide for the appointment of a State
Administrator of Election Laws, the method of appointment of
the members of the Board, their powers and duties under the
State Election Laws, and the powers and duties of the State

Secretary of State shall determine the sufficiency of the percentage
of registered voters signing petitions in those cases in which candi-
dates file certificates of nomination or of candidacy in his office. In
all other instances, such determination shall be made by the local
boards.

(f) If the total required number of signatures is not properly
appended to the petition, it shall be declared insufficient and the
name of the proposed candidate shall not be placed on the ballot.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this