Binswanger v. Whittle

Bond, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellant, by his petition in the Circuit Court, sought to compel removal, from the registration books of one of the election precincts in Baltimore County, of the names of such persons as had been placed on them since September 11th, 1932, as qualified voters, and in an exhibit specified the names of six persons which should, according to his contention, be so removed. His purpose in the proceeding is to contest the validity of the Act of ¹⁴⁸ 1916, ch. 569, now section 20 of article 33 of the Code, under which the names were registered, on the ground that it violates the requirement of uniformity in the Constitution of the State, article 1, section 5. The petition is filed under a statute providing procedure for striking names from the registration books, section 27 of article 33 of the Code, and one of the requirements of the section is that the persons whose names are sought to be stricken off shall be summoned.

None of those to be affected in this instance have been summoned, or have come before the court, and the proceeding has not, therefore, been initiated at all as prescribed. The petitioner argues that as he raises a question of law, attacking a statute generally, the summoning of the particular persons cannot be considered material. But In addition to the fact that the statute commands it, an opportunity to those persons to be heard on their cases would seem material as a requirement of fair, orderly justice. And there is no proceeding by petition to secure a declaratory decision on such a question.

An application for an order to notify the individuals by publication was properly denied, as publication would not be a compliance with the requirement of summons. The Board of Registry of the precinct, and the Board of Supervisors of Election, were named as-respondents on the petition, but there is no provision for proceeding against the former board alone, and the Board of Supervisors would have no place in a proceeding concerning the names of registrants, for matters of registration have not been committed to it. But while the question has not been placed before the court in a proper proceeding, its importance, and the force of the argument on it, seem to render it desirable that the contentions made be answered. The constitutional provision (article 1, section 5) is that “The General Assembly shall provide by law for a uniform Registration of the names of all the voters in this State who possess the qualifications prescribed in this Article,” that is, as provided in section 1 of the