Opinion ID: 2349933
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Albaugh Case

Text: Candidate Albaugh filed his certificate of candidacy as a Republican candidate for Governor on November 2, 1965. Early in July 1966, he was advised by the Secretary of State that he should promptly appoint a campaign treasurer. In reply he stated that he would not appoint a treasurer and informed the Secretary that he had spent about $200 so far and expect[ed] to spend about $1000 before the primary election. When he was notified on August 1, 1966, that he must appoint a treasurer prior to the certification date of August 3, he filed suit. Therein he alleged, among other things, that he had no intention of appointing a treasurer. In his certificate of candidacy, the candidate stated under oath that he had been a citizen of the State of Maryland for a period of eight years and a resident for ten years. At the hearing before Judge Childs, he stated that he had been a citizen of the State for twelve years, but he offered no testimony with regard to either citizenship or residency. And in an affidavit filed with his motion seeking to have the lower court reconsider its decision that he was not qualified to be a candidate for Governor, he stated that he had been a citizen for more than ten years and that he had continuously resided in the State for the last five years. On appeal, Albaugh contends that § 213 (a) of Article 33 is in conflict with § 5 of Article II of the Constitution of Maryland pertaining to the eligibility of a person to be Governor and that his certificate of candidacy shows that he was a qualified candidate for that office. Since the candidate cited Hellman v. Collier, 217 Md. 93, 141 A.2d 908 (1958), to support the first contention, he appears to claim that the statute, requiring candidates for office to appoint a campaign treasurer, had the effect of imposing another qualification for the office of Governor in addition to those set forth in the Constitution. We do not agree. On the contrary, it is obvious that the statute, which is a part of the Corrupt Practices Act, was intended to do no more than enhance the effectiveness of those regulations requiring a full disclosure of the financial aspects of the campaign of a candidate for office. Clearly the Act, including § 213 (a) thereof, has no bearing on the eligibility of a candidate for office. With respect to whether the certificate of candidacy disclosed that the candidate had the requisite qualifications for the office of Governor, Albaugh contends that the only reasonable interpretation of the certification  That I am over 30 years of age and have been a citizen of the State of Maryland for the past eight years, and I have resided therein for more than ten years next preceding this election and that I am a qualified voter therein, is that the words for the past eight years indicate the extent of his continuous residence and that the words for more than ten years indicate the length of his discontinuous total citizenship. The contention is wholly without merit. There is no ambiguity (as the candidate claims) in the wording of the quoted part of the certificate of candidacy. Rather, the wording is a clear and unequivocal paraphrase of the constitutional provision. [1] Ordinarily the word citizen connotes an inhabitant or permanent resident, and while the words citizen and resident as used in some contexts may be synonymous, as they were held to be in Crosse v. Board of Supervisors of Elections, 243 Md. 555, 221 A.2d 431 (1966) and in Dorsey v. Kyle, 30 Md. 512 (1869), it is apparent that the citizenship and residential requirements of the constitutional provision under consideration are not synonymous; nor are the requirements interchangeable. In this instance, since the certificate of candidacy shows on its face that Albaugh had not been a citizen of Maryland for the requisite ten year period, he was clearly not qualified to be a gubernatorial candidate.