Connor v. Board of Supervisors of Elections

Hammond, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. A. Paul Connor, a resident, taxpayer and registered voter of Baltimore County, filed a bill of complaint in the Circuit Court for that County against the Board of Supervisors of Elections to enjoin the holding of the special election for the choosing of the first County Council to serve under the recently adopted County Charter. The County Commissioners intervened by leave of court, and the Board of Supervisors of Elections and the County Commissioners both demurred to the bill. The chancellor sustained the demurrers without leave to amend and the appeal is from that action.

We advanced the case for argument and affirmed the chancellor in a per curiam decision on January 11, 1957. We now set forth the reasons for the affirmance. As filed, the bill sought only that the “Charter form of Government for Baltimore County and all proceedings in conjunction therewith be declared null and void” and that the Board of Supervisors of Elections be enjoined from proceeding with the election for Council members. The day after the filing of the bill, the appellant filed a “Motion to Amend Prayer”, in which it was recited that the remedy originally sought was too drastic and the appellant desired to amend the bill by substituting prayers that asked the court to change certain specified Charter provisions.

Appended to the bill as an exhibit were the report of the Charter Board that drew up the Charter and a copy of the Charter as adopted by the voters of the County. This exhibit, and others filed with the bill, showed that the Charter Board had certified that it had been elected by the people of the County on November 2, 1954, that the Charter had been prepared and unanimously approved by the Board, that on April 29, 1955, it had been submitted to the President of the Board of County Commissioners of Baltimore County and, finally, that it had been adopted by the voters of the County on November 6, 1956. The bill of complaint is discursive, containing many statements of facts and allegations to which no legal significance ³⁸² or effect can be attached. It is said that the shape and physical characteristics of Baltimore County are such that it is ill suited for the charter form of government; that there are no incorporated towns in the County; that the seat of the government under the Charter is Towson, which is merely a popular name for an aggregation of homes, without legal meaning; and there are many statements of opinion of the appellant as to the defects and inadequacies of the Charter.

Although below the appellant abandoned his original claim that the Charter was null and void, and the case was heard on the bill as amended, at the argument in this Court appellant told us that he desired to have his original prayer considered, as well as the amending prayers. Since the demurrer was to the bill as a whole and the chancellor seems to have considered the validity of the adoption of the Charter in passing on the issues raised by the appellant, we accede to appellant’s request. The parts of the bill that have legal pertinence and significance set forth the steps required under Art. XIA of the Constitution for the adoption of a charter form of government by a County. It is not claimed that all of these steps were not duly taken.

Apart from the fact that the amending prayers in effect concede the valid existence of the Charter, the appellant’s exhibits confirm that the steps required by Art. XIA were scrupulously followed. Appellant’s arguments that the Charter is invalid go beyond this. Art. XIA, Sec. 1, provides that on petition of 10,000 signatures of registered voters of the County, the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall provide at the next general or congressional election for the election of a Charter Board consisting of five registered voters in the County. Nominations for members of the Charter Board are made by the County Commissioners of the County or by petition of not less than 5% of the registered voters of the County.

Section 1 then goes on to say that if “* * * not more than five registered voters in any such County are so nominated their names shall not be printed on the ballot, but said * * * five in such County shall constitute said charter board from and after the date of said election.” The Board is directed to prepare a charter form of government for the County within six months from the date of said election and present ³⁸³ it to the President of the Board of County Commissioners, who shall cause it to be published in newspapers of general circulation in the County. After publication, the Charter is to be submitted to the voters of the County at the next general or congressional election and, if adopted, “* * * the said charter from and after the thirtieth day from the date of such election shall become the law of said * * * County * * * and any public local laws inconsistent with the provisions of said charter and any former charter of said * * * County shall be thereby repealed.” The appellant says that the petition, including the signatures and oaths of the 10,000 petitioners that sought the charter form of government should have been published for the inspection of the citizens and voters of Baltimore County, that the members of the Charter Board were not duly elected because not chosen by a primary, as provided by Code, 1951, Art. 33, Sec. 56, and the voters had no choice of candidates in disregard of the right to such choice, said by the appellant to be given them by the Constitution of Maryland. There is no provision in the Constitution or the law that requires the publication of the petition looking to the adoption of the charter form of government provided for in Art. XIA, and appellant’s contention on this point is without substance. The