53. The Supervisors of Elections shall provide for each election precinct in the several counties and in the city of Baltimore two packages, each containing one hundred ballots, for every one hundred or fraction of one hundred voters shown by the last preceding registration in said precinct, and shall cause each package to be sealed and clearly marked on the outside of its wrapper with the name of the precinct and polling place for which it is intended and the number of ballots enclosed. One of said two packages shall be delivered to the judges of election with the ballot-boxes, poll-books, blanks and stationery, as provided in Section 54 of this Article, and the other packages of tickets, one for every precinct, shall be delivered by said Board of Supervisors of Election a sufficient time before the election, to the sheriffs of their respective counties or to the Board of Police Commissioners of Baltimore city, as the case may be, and it shall be the duty of the said sheriffs and Board of Police Commissioners to have them on the day of election where they can be promptly supplied, and to supply them to any judges of election who shall then make requisition therefor in writing, stating that their first supply of ballots has been exhausted, or that for any cause the second set is needed. Said sheriff's and Board of Police Commissioners shall receipt for the same and keep a record of all such second sets of ballots so delivered by them to the judges of election, and they shall on the day after the election return all packages not so delivered to their respective Boards of Supervisors of Election, who shall cause them to be destroyed within ten days thereafter. The several

Boards of Supervisors shall keep a record of the number of all ballots printed for each polling place in their respective counties or city, and shall preserve the same for at least six months after the election for which it was made.

ELECTIONS.

54. The Supervisors of Elections of Baltimore city shall not more than three days, and not less than one day preceding the election, deliver to the Board of Police Commissioners of

the city of Baltimore the two registers of every precinct of said city, together with the cards of instruction and ballotbox therefor, the latter being locked with the key in the lock, and containing one of the sealed packages of ballots for said precinct, the specimen ballots, the two poll-books. and all blanks and stationery required for such election : and the Supervisors of Elections of the several counties shall within the same period prior to every election, make up into sealed packages for each precinct the two registers for said precinct, together with the cards of instruction and the key of the ballot-box for such precinct, having first placed in the ballot-box one of the sealed packages of ballots for said precinct, the specimen ballots, the two pollbooks, and all blanks and stationery required for such election, and shall deliver the said packages and ballot-boxes properly addressed to the sheriff of the county, and the said Board of Police Commissioners and sheriff shall respectively receipt therefor, and shall deliver or cause the same to be delivered to the judges of election of the respective precincts at or before the opening of the polls on the day of election. The several Boards of Supervisors shall keep a record of the time when such deliveries are made by them and of the particulars thereof.

55. The judges of election, and each of them, shall have authority to keep the peace, and to cause any person to be arrested for any breach of the peace, or for any breach of the election laws, or any interference with the progress of an election, or of the canvass of the ballots, and it shall be the duty of all officers of the law present to obey the order of any judge of election, and an officer making an arrest by the direction of any judge shall be protected in so doing as fully as if a warrant had been issued to him to make such arrest.

56. The polling places shall be opened by the judges at six o'clock in the morning in the city of Baltimore and at eight o'clock in the morning in the counties, and in said city as well as in the counties shall be kept open until five o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, at which time the

polls shall be closed. If any judge or clerk shall not be present at the expiration of fifteen minutes after the time for opening the polls, the judge or judges present shall fill the place of such absent judge or clerk by appointing in his stead a person of the same political party as the absentee. One of the judges shall administer to such substitute the oath required of the judge or clerk originally appointed. After the opening of the polls no judge or clerk shall absent himself therefrom until all the ballots cast shall have been counted and the returns completed. If, in case of absolute necessity, any judge or clerk in attendance shall be compelled to absent himself, he shall appoint some fit person of the same political party with himself to act in his stead until his return, having first administered to such substitute the same oath as he himself has taken. Blank forms for the appointment of substitute judges and clerks, and of the oath aforesaid, shall be supplied by the supervisors, and the oaths, when administered, shall be preserved and returned by the judges to the supervisors. The appointment and swearing-in of all such substitutes, and the reason therefor. and the time when such substitutes began and ceased to serve, shall be noted by the judges in the poll-book of the precinct. Such substitute shall cease to act whenever the judge or clerk in whose stead he was appointed shall be present.

57. Each political party, or other body of voters having a candidate or candidates duly nominated, shall have the right to designate and keep a challenger and watcher at each place of registration and election, who shall be assigned to such position near the judges of election, inside the registration or polling-room, as to enable them to see each person as he offers to register or vote, and they shall be protected in the discharge of their duty by the judges of election and the police. A certificate, signed by the candidates or by the presiding officer of the chief managing committee of their party in the city or county, shall be sufficient evidence of the right of such challenger and watcher to be present in the registration or polling-room.

In case any challenger or watcher does not produce such certificate, the judges of election shall recognize a challenger or watcher vouched for by the persons present belonging to such political party or by the judge representing such party. Such challenger and watcher shall have the right to remain in the polling-room, outside the rail hereinafter mentioned, from the time the polls are opened until they are closed, and after that time he shall be permitted to remain within the rail until the returns are completed. The refusal to permit any such challenger so to remain shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both fine and imprisonment; but it shall be unlawful for any such challenger to inquire or ascertain for what candidate or candidates any voter may intend to vote or has voted, or to confer in the polling-room with any voter, or to assist him in the preparation of his ballot, and any challenger offering or attempting so to do may lawfully be ejected by the judges, and shall also be subject to the punishment hereinafter provided. A challenger or watcher may be removed at any time by the same person or committee or by the chairman of the committee which appointed him. Citizens, other than accredited challengers or watchers, who desire to challenge the vote of any person then inside the polling-room, shall be permitted to enter said room for that purpose; but a majority of the judges may limit the number of persons to be allowed in the pollingroom at any one time for such purpose; and all such persons shall leave the polling-room as soon as the right to vote of the person challenged by them shall have been decided.

58. Each clerk of election shall keep a poll-book containing a column headed "Number" and another headed Name of Voter." All entries therein shall be made in ink, and the number and name of each person to whom a ballot is given shall be entered on each of the poll-books by the clerk having charge thereof in regular succession under the proper heading, the number of such voter being placed opposite his name in the column headed Number;"

but if the vote of any person whose name has thus been entered on the poll-books shall be afterwards rejected by the judges, the clerks shall thereupon draw a line through his name and number, as hereinafter provided.

59. The Supervisors of Elections shall provide in each room designated by them as polling places a sufficient number of voting booths or compartments in which voters inay conveniently mark their ballots; said booths or compartments shall be constructed of plank not less than one inch in thickness, and shall be of such width, depth and height that the voter, in marking his ballot therein, shall be screened from the observation of others, and for this purpose a short curtain shall be hung across the front of each compartment at a convenient height and so as to extend a little below the shelf hereinafter mentioned. Each compartment shall have a shelf within the same, and shall be provided with proper supplies and conveniences for marking the ballots, and a guard-rail shall be constructed in said polling place so as to divide the space occupied by the judges of election and other officials and persons permitted by law to be within the same from the public; said guard-rail shall have an entrance and exit therein, and shall also be so constructed and placed that only persons who are inside said rail can approach within five feet of the ballot-boxes. The arrangement of such polling places shall be such that neither the ballot-boxes nor the voting booths or compartments shall be hidden from view of those just outside of said guard-rail. The number of such compartments shall not be less than one for every one hundred voters qualified to vote at such polling place, and not less than five in any city, and not less than three in any polling place in any county. No person other than voters engaged in preparing or depositing their ballots and the election officers shall be permitted to be within said rail unless by authority of the judges of election for the purpose of keeping order and enforcing the law. The ballot-box shall be within said rail, and not more than six feet therefrom. The expense of providing such booths or compartments and guard-rails