Evening star., 1950-09-27
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Court Test Of
Voting System
Recounts Under Wuy,
Change in State
Unit Method Urged
By the Asseeietsd Press

BALTIMORE, Sept. 27.-The
courts may be asked to decide who
the Democratic candidate for Gov
ernor of Maryland will be in the
November Z election.
There were indications that
George P. Mahoney may go to
court to attack the States unit
system of primaries.
Under the present system, he
lost the primary to Gov. Lane
although he led Gov. Lane in the
popular vote totals.
No one in the Mahoney head
quarters would be quoted on the
plan, but one legal advisor indi-
Gated such a move is under con-
sideration.
Meanwhile. recounts of ballots
cast in the September 18 primary
were under way in four counties.
Wicomico County. where Mr.. Ma
honey lost to Gov. Lane by BIT
popular. votes, started its recount
today.
Other Counties Recounting.
Recounts in Anne Arundel, Gar
rett and Carroll Counties started
yesterday.
If any two Of the four counties
were in the Mahoney column, he
could win the nomination.
Under the unit system, each
Maryland county and Baltimore
City legislative district is assigned
as many votes in the party nomi-
mating convention as it has mem
bers of the General Assembly.
The top candidate in each sub
division gets the unit votes of the
county or legislative district.
In the primary. Gov. Lane got
"a convention votes to Mr.. Ma
honey's 68. AS there are 152 con-
vention votes in all, IT are needed
to nominate in a two-man race.
When the official returns came
in, Mr.. Mahoney filed for re-
counts in the four counties where
the Lane margin of victory was
especially narrow.
Mahoney Picks Up 7 Votes.
Ballots of five of the Is polling
places in Garrett County were
recounted yesterday. On the face
of the official returns. Mr.. Ma
honey lost Garrett by So votes.
He picked up seven votes in the
five polling places recounted yes
terday, however.
In Anne Arundel County, there
was an argument over procedure
and little was accomplished.
Mahoney hackers are not In
terested in checking the tallies
on the voting machines. They
want to get look at the cards
signed by each voter before he
entered the booth to cast his
ballot.
They went to court and got an
order directing the election board
to check the cards in the presence
Of Mahoney representatives.
But Election Supervisor Frank
T. Stockett said he would not
change his procedure for a re-
count. This entailed checking the
machine tabulations before check
ing the cards.
Neither TabulatiOn Checked.
Mr.. Mahoney's representatives
spent most of the day in the Of
flee of the election supervisors.
Lane watchers spent the day with
the supervisors at the warehouse.
The upshot was that neither the
machines nor the cards were
checked.
The count progressed slowly in
Carroll County and there was
little-if any-change noted in the
totals when the day was through.
AS the impaSse that has pre-
vented the Democrats from COM
pleting plans for the general elec-
ton campaign continued. William
Curran, a Baltimore political
leader, suggested that a new sys-
tenn of unit voting could be adopt
ed in the convention.
Mr.. Curran, a former attorney
general and a Mahoney backer,
said it is party usage only-not
law-that assigns the unit votes
to the subdivisions in accordance
with the number Of General As
sembly members.
Convention Scheduled Monday.
Admitting his plan would
change the rules after the game
has started" Mr.. Curran added:
Something must be done to
rescue the party from the plight
1t is in
Why" he asked. can't the COM
ing convention provide that each
county and legislative district
shall be awarded a vote in the
convention proportioned to the
Democratic vote they produced in
the last gubernatorial general
election?"
If his system were adopted, Mr..
Mahoney would get 60 per cent Of
the convention votes. Mr.. Ma
honey won the convention votes Of
five of the six Baltimore City dis
trictS.
If the recounts are not finished,
the procedure will be to convene
officially, then recess until they
are completed. .s
The Republican nominating
convention will be held here Sat-
urday.
Baltimore County Ends
Canvass, Goes to Mohoney
TNWSON Md Sept. 27 (P.-