They shall reject any ballots which are deceitfully folded together, and any ballots which do not have endorsed thereon. the name or initials of the judge who held the ballots. If the voter has marked more names than there are persons to be elected to an office, or if for any reason it is impossible to determine the voter's choice for any office to be filled, his ballot shall not be counted for such office. Ballots not counted for such defects shall be marked "defective" on the back thereof, and shall be preserved and returned with the unused ballots. Where the voter makes the cross-mark opposite a party emblem his vote shall be counted as cast for all the candidates in such party group whose names are not erased, and the effect of such marking shall not be altered by his also making the cross-mark opposite one or more names of candidates in the said group. But if a voter shall have made the cross-mark opposite a party name or emblem and also opposite one or more names of candidates in another column his vote shall be counted for each candidate so marked in another column, and also for all the candidates under the marked party name or emblem whose names are not erased, and each name in the said marked party group opposite the name of any candidate marked as aforesaid in another column shall be deemed erased, unless the voter has, by erasure, indicated some other name in the said marked group that is to be omitted in its stead. The said judges shall count the votes in the following manner : They shall open the ballots, and all of these shall be canvassed separately by one of the judges sitting between two other judges, which judge shall call out each name and the office for which it is designated, the other judges looking at the ballot at the same time and the clerks making tally of the same. When all the ballots have been canvassed in this manner, the election clerks shall compare their tallies together and ascertain the total number of votes received by each candidate, and when they agree upon the numbers one of them shall announce in a loud voice to the judges the aggregate number of votes received by each candidate. If requested by any watcher or challenger present at any

canvass, it shall be the duty of the judges, and each of them, to exhibit to such watcher or challenger any ballot cast, fully opened, or in such condition and manner that he may fully read and examine the same, but the judges shall not allow any ballot to be taken from their hands. When the ballots have been counted they shall be strung upon a strong twine.

67. When the canvass of the ballots shall have been completed, and the clerks shall have announced to the judges the total number of votes received by each candidate, each of the judges of election, in turn, shall then proclaim in a loud voice the total number of votes received by each person voted for in such precinct and the office for which he is designated, and the number of votes for and the number of votes against any proposition which shall have been submitted to the vote of the people; such proclamation shall be prima facie evidence of the result of the canvass of such ballots. In the city of Baltimore the judges shall, immediately after such proclamation, deliver to a policeman on duty at the polling place a statement subscribed with their names, which shall be sealed up and forthwith conveyed by the said policeman to the office of the Board of Police Commissioners, whose duty it shall be to file and preserve the same. Such statements shall contain the total number of votes in the ballot-box and the number of votes found therein for each and every candidate, and any person applying may inspect the same.

ELECTION RETURNS.

68. The judges shall make duplicate statements or returns of the result of the canvass, each of which shall, if possible, be made upon a single sheet of paper, and shall contain a caption stating the day on which, and the number of the election precinct and the county or ward of the city, in relation to which said statements shall be made, and the time of opening and closing the polls of such precinct, and showing the whole number of votes given for

each person, designating the office for which they were given. Such statements shall be written, or partly written and partly printed, in words at length, and in case a proposition of any kind has been submitted to a vote at such election, such statements shall also show, in like manner, the whole number of votes cast for or against such proposition; and at the end of such statement shall be written a certificate that the same is correct in all respects, which certificate and each sheet of paper forming part of the statement shall be subscribed by the judges and clerks. If any judge or clerk shall decline to sign such return, he shall state his reason therefor in writing, and a copy thereof signed by himself shall be enclosed with each return. Each of the statements shall be enclosed in an envelope, which shall then be securely sealed with sealing-wax or other adhesive material, and each of the judges and clerks shall write his name across the fold of the envelope. One of the envelopes shall be directed to the clerk of the Circuit Court of the county, or the Superior Court of Baltimore city, as the case may be, and one to the County Commissioners or to the Mayor of the city of Baltimore, as the case may be. Each set of tallies shall also be signed by the election clerks and the judges of election, and each shall be enclosed in an envelope securely signed and sealed as aforesaid, one of which shall be addressed to the Board of Supervisors of Elections and the other to the Register of Wills. On the outside of every envelope shall be endorsed the statement that it contains the votes cast, or the tallies, and for what precinct, ward, city or county.

69. The poll-books and the ballots cast and counted, as well as all the spoiled and defective ballots and all the ballots not used, shall be placed in the ballot-box, and the ballot-box shall then be locked and the key removed, whereupon the judges of election shall all write their names upon a strip of paper of sufficient length for the following purposes: Said strip of paper shall then be pasted over the keyhole of said ballot-box, and over the slit in the lid, in such manner that the signatures shall extend across

the place of the opening of the lid, and so that when the box is opened it will tear the paper and destroy the signatures, and so that when the key is inserted in the keyhole it will tear the paper so pasted over the keyhole. Such paper shall be securely fastened to the box with sealingwax or some other adhesive material.

70. Thereupon one of the judges shall take charge of the ballot-box and its contents so enclosed, and another judge representing the opposite political party shall receive and hold the key thereof; each of the two judges who do not have charge of the ballot-box or key, shall take into his possession one of the registers, and also one of the statements of the votes cast, sealed up in its envelope as aforesaid, and each of the clerks shall take one of the tally sheets sealed up in an envelope as aforesaid; and the meeting of said judges and clerks shall then be dissolved. Before twelve o'clock noon of the day after such election in Baltimore city, and before the same hour of the second day after said election in the counties, the judge having possession of the ballot-box shall deliver the same with the contents aforesaid to the Board of Supervisors of Elections, with the seal unbroken, and shall take a receipt therefor, and within the same period of time the judges having possession of the key and of the registers shall deliver the same to the said Board of Supervisors and take a receipt. therefor, and the two judges and clerks having possession of the statements and tallies shall within the same time deliver them to the respective officers to whom they are addressed as aforesaid, and when so delivered each of said judges and clerks shall take a receipt therefor. No judge or clerk shall receive pay for his services unless he produces the receipt herein provided for. The officers to whom the statements and tallies are so delivered shall securely keep the same, with the seals unbroken.

71. The Board of Supervisors of Elections upon receiving a ballot-box and the key thereof, shall note the condition of the seal or stamp on each box, and make an entry of the facts touching the same in a book to be kept by

them, together with the name of the officer who delivered the box. They shall deliver all the ballot-boxes so sealed as aforesaid to the clerks of the Circuit Court for their respective counties, or to the Board of Police Commissioners of Baltimore city, as the case may be, who shall put them in a secure place to which the public shall in no case have access, and shall safely keep them for the space of six months from the day of such delivery, at which time, unless previously notified to produce the same to be used in evidence in some contested election or judicial or legislative investigation then pending, the said Board of Supervisors shall, in the presence of one or more judges of the Orphans' Court, destroy said ballots and poll-books, also all of the said tallies, including those delivered to the Register of Wills, and shall record in the same book a certificate of the fact signed by said judge or judges.

CANVASSING BOARDS.

72. It shall be the duty of the said County Commissioners, Clerks of Court and Mayor, respectively, to keep safely under lock and key the said original statements or returns until the Board of Canvassers for the county or city, as the case may be, shall have assembled and been organized according to law, as hereinafter provided, whereupon the Clerks of Court, County Commissioners and Mayor shall immediately deliver or transmit to such Board of Canvassers the said statements or returns in the sealed envelopes.

73. The Supervisors of Elections, the State's Attorney, and the presiding judge of the Orphans' Court shall constitute a Board of Canvassers for their county or city, as the case may be.

74. On the Tuesday next following every election, between the hours of twelve o'clock noon and one o'clock in the afternoon, the Board of County Canvassers shall meet at the usual place for holding the Circuit Court for the county, and the Board of Canvassers for Baltimore city shall meet at the usual place for holding the Superior Court, and