Legislative Department
ARTICLE III
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
SECTION 1. The Legislature shall consist of two distinct branches; a Senate, and a House of Delegates, and shall be styled the General Assembly of Maryland.SEC. 2. The membership of the Senate shall consist of forty-seven (47) Senators. The membership of the House of Delegates shall consist of one hundred forty-one (141) Delegates (amended by Chapter 469, Acts of 1900, ratified Nov. 5, 1901; Chapter 7, Acts of 1922, ratified Nov. 7, 1922; Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).
SEC. 3. The State shall be divided by law into legislative districts for the election of members of the Senate and the House of Delegates. Each legislative district shall contain one (1) Senator and three (3) Delegates. Nothing herein shall prohibit the subdivision of any one or more of the legislative districts for the purpose of electing members of the House of Delegates into three (3) single-member delegate districts or one (1) single-member delegate district and one (1) multi-member delegate district (repealed by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; added by Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).
SEC. 4. Each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions (amended by Chapter 432, Acts of 1900, ratified Nov. 5, 1901; Chapter 20, Acts of 1922, ratified Nov. 7, 1922; Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).
SEC. 5. Following each decennial census of the United States and after public hearings, the Governor shall prepare a plan setting forth the boundaries of the legislative districts for electing of the members of the Senate and the House of Delegates.
The Governor shall present the plan to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Delegates who shall introduce the Governor's plan as a joint resolution to the General Assembly, not later than the first day of its regular session in the second year following every census, and the Governor may call a special session for the presentation of his plan prior to the regular session. The plan shall conform to Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. Following each decennial census the General Assembly may by joint resolution adopt a plan setting forth the boundaries of the legislative districts for the election of members of the Senate and the House of Delegates, which plan shall conform to Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. If a plan has been adopted by the General Assembly by the 45th day after the opening of the regular session of the General Assembly in the second year following every census, the plan adopted by the General Assembly shall become law. If no plan has been adopted by the General Assembly for these purposes by the 45th day after the opening of the regular session of the General Assembly in the second year following every census, the Governor's plan presented to the General Assembly shall become law.
Upon petition of any registered voter, the Court of Appeals shall have original jurisdiction to review the legislative districting of the State and may grant appropriate relief, if it finds that the districting of the State is not consistent with requirements of either the Constitution of the United States of America, or the Constitution of Maryland (amended by Chapter 226, Acts of 1949, ratified Nov. 7, 1950; Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 363, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 6. A member of the General Assembly shall be elected by the registered voters of the legislative or delegate district from which he seeks election, to serve for a term of four years beginning on the second Wednesday of January following his election (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 785, Acts of 1969, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 7. The election for Senators and Delegates shall take place on the Tuesday next, after the first Monday in the month of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-eight, and in every fourth year thereafter (amended by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956).
SEC. 8. Vacant (repealed by Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified Nov. 6, 1956).
SEC. 9. A person is eligible to serve as a Senator or Delegate, who on the date of his election, (1) is a citizen of the State of Maryland, (2) has resided therein for at least one year next preceding that date, and (3) if the district which he has been chosen to represent has been established for at least six months prior to the date of his election, has resided in that district for six months next preceding that date.
If the district which the person has been chosen to represent has been established less than six months prior to the date of his election, then in addition to (1) and (2) above, he shall have resided in the district for as long as it has been established.
A person is eligible to serve as a Senator, if he has attained the age of twenty-five years, or as a Delegate, if he has attained the age of twenty-one years, on the date of his election (amended by Chapter 880, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 10. No member of Congress, or person holding any civil, or military office under the United States, shall be eligible as a Senator, or Delegate; and if any person shall after his election as Senator, or Delegate, be elected to Congress, or be appointed to any office, civil, or military, under the Government of the United States, his acceptance thereof, shall vacate his seat; except that a Senator or Delegate may be a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States or a member of the militia of the United States or this State (amended by Chapter 61, Acts of 1990, ratified Nov. 6, 1990).
SEC. 11. No person holding any civil office of profit, or trust, under this State shall be eligible as Senator or Delegate; however, a Senator or Delegate may be a nonelected law enforcement officer or a fire or rescue squad worker (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 80, Acts of 1996, ratified Nov. 5, 1996).
SEC. 12. No Collector, Receiver, or Holder of public money shall be eligible as Senator or Delegate, or to any office of profit, or trust, under this State, until he shall have accounted for, and paid into the Treasury all sums on the books thereof, charged to, and due by him.
SEC. 13. (a) (1) In case of death, disqualification, resignation, refusal to act, expulsion, or removal from the county or city for which he shall have been elected, of any person who shall have been chosen as a Delegate or Senator, or in case of a tie between two or more such qualified persons, the Governor shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy from a person whose name shall be submitted to him in writing, within thirty days after the occurrence of the vacancy, by the Central Committee of the political party, if any, with which the Delegate or Senator, so vacating, had been affiliated, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Senator or Delegate, in the County or District from which he or she was appointed or elected, provided that the appointee shall be of the same political party, if any, as was that of the Delegate or Senator, whose office is to be filled, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Delegate or Senator, and it shall be the duty of the Governor to make said appointment within fifteen days after the submission thereof to him.
(3) In the event there is no Central Committee in the County or District from which said vacancy is to be filled, the Governor shall within fifteen days after the occurrence of such vacancy appoint a person, from the same political party, if any, as that of the vacating Delegate or Senator, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Senator or Delegate, who is otherwise properly qualified to hold the office of Delegate or Senator in such District or County.
(4) In every case when any person is so appointed by the Governor, his appointment shall be deemed to be for the unexpired term of the person whose office has become vacant.
(b) In addition, and in submitting a name to the Governor to fill a vacancy in a legislative or delegate district, as the case may be, in any of the twenty-three counties of Maryland, the Central Committee or committees shall follow these provisions:
(2) If the vacancy occurs in a district which has boundaries comprising a portion of one county, the Central Committee of that county shall submit the name of a resident of the district.
(3) If the vacancy occurs in a district which has boundaries comprising a portion or all of two or more counties, the Central Committee of each county involved shall have one vote for submitting the name of a resident of the district; and if there is a tie vote between or among the Central Committees, the list of names there proposed shall be submitted to the Governor, and he shall make the appointment from the list (amended by Chapter 584, Acts of 1935, ratified Nov. 3, 1936; Chapter 162, Acts of 1966, ratified Nov. 8, 1966; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978; Chapter 649, Acts of 1986, ratified Nov. 4, 1986).
SEC. 14. The General Assembly shall meet on the second Wednesday of January, nineteen hundred and seventy-one, and on the same day in every year thereafter, and at no other time, unless convened by Proclamation of the Governor. A Proclamation convening the General Assembly in extraordinary session must be issued by the Governor if a majority of the members elected to the Senate and a majority of the members elected to the House of Delegates join in a petition to the Governor requesting that he convene the General Assembly in extraordinary session, and the Governor shall convene the General Assembly on the date specified in the petition. This section does not affect the Governor's power to convene the General Assembly in extraordinary session pursuant to Section 16 of Article II of this Constitution (amended by Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970).
SEC. 15. (1) The General Assembly may continue its session so long as in its judgment the public interest may require, for a period not longer than ninety days in each year. The ninety days shall be consecutive unless otherwise provided by law. The General Assembly may extend its session beyond ninety days, but not exceeding an additional thirty days, by resolution concurred in by a three-fifths vote of the membership in each House. When the General Assembly is convened by Proclamation of the Governor, the session shall not continue longer than thirty days, but no additional compensation other than mileage and other allowances provided by law shall be paid members of the General Assembly for special session.
(2) Any compensation and allowances paid to members of the General Assembly shall be as established by a commission known as the General Assembly Compensation Commission. The Commission shall consist of nine members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, two of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, and two of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Members of the General Assembly and officers and employees of the Government of the State of Maryland or of any county, city, or other governmental unit of the State shall not be eligible for appointment to the Commission. Members of the Commission shall be appointed for terms of four years commencing on June 1 of each gubernatorial election year. Members of the Commission are eligible for re-appointment. Any member of the Commission may be removed by the Governor prior to the expiration of his term for official misconduct, incompetence, or neglect of duty. The members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in carrying out their responsibilities under this section. Decisions of the Commission must be concurred in by at least five members.
(3) Within 15 days after the beginning of the regular session of the General Assembly in 1974 and within 15 days after the beginning of the regular session in each fourth year thereafter, the Commission by formal resolution shall submit its determinations for compensation and allowances to the General Assembly. The General Assembly may reduce or reject, but shall not increase any item in the resolution. The resolution, with any reductions that shall have been concurred in by joint resolution of the General Assembly, shall take effect and have the force of law as of the beginning of the term of office of the next General Assembly. Rates of compensation and pensions shall be uniform for all members of the General Assembly, except that the officers of the Senate and the House of Delegates may receive higher compensation as determined by the General Assembly Compensation Commission. The provisions of the Compensation Commission resolution shall continue in force until superseded by any succeeding resolution.
(4) In no event shall the compensation and allowances be less than they were prior to the establishment of the Compensation Commission (amended by Chapter 695, Acts of 1941, ratified Nov. 3, 1942; Chapter 497, Acts of 1947, ratified Nov. 2, 1948; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 541, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 16. No book, or other printed matter not appertaining to the business of the session, shall be purchased, or subscribed for, for the use of the members of the General Assembly, or be distributed among them, at the public expense.
SEC. 17. No Senator or Delegate, after qualifying as such, notwithstanding he may thereafter resign, shall during the whole period of time, for which he was elected, be eligible to any office, which shall have been created, or the salary, or profits of which shall have been increased, during such term.
SEC. 18. No Senator or Delegate shall be liable in any civil action, or criminal prosecution, whatever, for words spoken in debate.
SEC. 19. Each House shall be judge of the qualifications and elections of its members, as prescribed by the Constitution and Laws of the State, and shall appoint its own officers, determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish a member for disorderly or disrespectful behaviour and with the consent of two-thirds of its whole number of members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same offence (amended by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 20. A majority of the whole number of members elected to each House shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may prescribe.
SEC. 21. The doors of each House, and of the Committee of the Whole, shall be open, except when the business is such as ought to be kept secret.
SEC. 22. Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and cause the same to be published. The yeas and nays of members on any question, shall at the call of any five of them in the House of Delegates, or one in the Senate, be entered on the Journal.
SEC. 23. Each House may punish by imprisonment, during the session of the General Assembly, any person, not a member, for disrespectful, or disorderly behavior in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceedings, or any of its officers in the execution of their duties; provided, such imprisonment shall not, at any one time, exceed ten days.
SEC. 24. The House of Delegates may inquire, on the oath of witnesses, into all complaints, grievances and offences, as the grand inquest of the State, and may commit any person, for any crime, to the public jail, there to remain, until discharged by due course of Law. They may examine and pass all accounts of the State, relating either to the collection or expenditure of the revenue, and appoint auditors to state and adjust the same. They may call for all public, or official papers and records, and send for persons, whom they may judge necessary in the course of their inquiries, concerning affairs relating to the public interest, and may direct all office bonds which shall be made payable to the State, to be sued for any breach thereof; and with a view to the more certain prevention, or correction of the abuses in the expenditures of the money of the State, the General Assembly shall create, at every session thereof, a Joint Standing Committee of the Senate and House of Delegates, who shall have power to send for persons, and examine them on oath, and call for Public, or Official Papers and Records, and whose duty it shall be to examine and report upon all contracts made for printing stationery, and purchases for the Public offices, and the Library, and all expenditures therein, and upon all matters of alleged abuse in expenditures, to which their attention may be called by Resolution of either House of the General Assembly.
SEC. 25. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, at any one time, nor adjourn to any other place, than that in which the House shall be sitting, without the concurrent vote of two-thirds of the members present.
SEC. 26. The House of Delegates shall have the sole power of impeachment in all cases; but a majority of all the members elected must concur in the impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, and when sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be on oath, or affirmation, to do justice according to the law and evidence; but no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Senators elected.
SEC. 27. (a) Any bill may originate in either House of the General Assembly and be altered, amended or rejected by the other. No bill shall originate in either House during the last thirty-five calendar days of a regular session, unless two-thirds of the members elected thereto shall so determine by yeas and nays, and in addition the two Houses by joint and similar rule may further regulate the right to introduce bills during this period. A bill may not become a law until it is read on three different days of the session in each House, unless two-thirds of the members elected to the House where such bill is pending determine by yeas and nays, and no bill shall be read a third time until it shall have been actually engrossed or printed for a third reading.
(b) Each House may adopt by rule a "consent calendar" procedure permitting bills to be read and voted upon as a single group on first, second and third readings, provided that the members of each House are afforded reasonable notice of the bills to be placed upon each "consent calendar." Upon the objection of any member, any bill in question shall be removed from the "consent calendar" (amended by Chapter 497, Acts of 1912, ratified Nov. 4, 1913; Chapter 616, Acts of 1955, ratified Nov. 6, 1956; Chapter 161, Acts of 1964, ratified Nov. 3, 1964; Chapter 576, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970; Chapter 369, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 793, Acts of 1988, ratified Nov. 8, 1988).
SEC. 28. No bill, nor single group of bills placed on the "consent calendar," shall become a Law unless it be passed in each House by a majority of the whole number of members elected, and on its final passage, the yeas and nays be recorded, and on final passage of the bills placed on the "consent calendar" the yeas and nays on the entire group of bills be recorded. A resolution requiring the action of both Houses shall be passed in the same manner (amended by Chapter 369, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).
SEC. 29. The style of all Laws of this State shall be, "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland:" and all Laws shall be passed by original bill; and every Law enacted by the General Assembly shall embrace but one subject, and that shall be described in its title; and no Law, nor section of Law, shall be revived, or amended by reference to its title, or section only; nor shall any Law be construed by reason of its title, to grant powers, or confer rights which are not expressly contained in the body of the Act; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly, in amending any article, or section of the Code of Laws of this State, to enact the same, as the said article, or section would read when amended. And whenever the General Assembly shall enact any Public General Law, not amendatory of any section, or article in the said Code, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to enact the same, in articles and sections, in the same manner, as the Code is arranged, and to provide for the publication of all additions and alterations, which may be made to the said Code.
SEC. 30. Every bill, when passed by the General Assembly, and sealed with the Great Seal, shall be presented by the presiding officer of the House in which it originated to the Governor for his approval. All bills passed during a regular or special session shall be presented to the Governor for his approval no later than 20 days after adjournment. Within 30 days after presentment, if the Governor approves the bill, he shall sign the same in the presence of the presiding officers and Chief Clerks of the Senate and House of Delegates. Every Law shall be recorded in the office of the Court of Appeals, and in due time, be printed, published and certified under the Great Seal, to the several Courts, in the same manner as has been heretofore usual in this State (amended by Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974).
SEC. 31. A Law passed by the General Assembly shall take effect the first day of June next after the session at which it may be passed, unless it be otherwise expressly declared therein or provided for in this Constitution (amended by Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974).
SEC. 32. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the State, by any order or resolution, nor except in accordance with an appropriation by Law; and every such Law shall distinctly specify the sum appropriated, and the object, to which it shall be applied; provided, that nothing herein contained, shall prevent the General Assembly from placing a contingent fund at the disposal of the Executive, who shall report to the General Assembly, at each Session, the amount expended, and the purposes to which it was applied. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money, shall be attached to, and published with the Laws, after each regular Session of the General Assembly.
SEC. 33. The General Assembly shall not pass local, or special Laws, in any of the following enumerated cases, viz.: For extending the time for the collection of taxes; granting divorces; changing the name of any person; providing for the sale of real estate, belonging to minors, or other persons laboring under legal disabilities, by executors, administrators, guardians or trustees; giving effect to informal, or invalid deeds or wills; refunding money paid into the State Treasury, or releasing persons from their debts, or obligations to the State, unless recommended by the Governor, or officers of the Treasury Department. And the General Assembly shall pass no special Law, for any case, for which provision has been made, by an existing General Law. The General Assembly, at its first Session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall pass General Laws, providing for the cases enumerated in this section, which are not already adequately provided for, and for all other cases, where a General Law can be made applicable.
SEC. 34. No debt shall be hereafter contracted by the General Assembly unless such debt shall be authorized by a law providing for the collection of an annual tax or taxes sufficient to pay the interest on such debt as it falls due, and also to discharge the principal thereof within fifteen years from the time of contracting the same; and the taxes laid for this purpose shall not be repealed or applied to any other object until the said debt and interest thereon shall be fully discharged. The annual tax or taxes required to be collected shall not be collected in the event that sufficient funds to pay the principal and interest on the debt are appropriated for this purpose in the annual State budget. The credit of the State shall not in any manner be given, or loaned to, or in aid of any individual association or corporation; nor shall the General Assembly have the power to involve the State in the construction of works of internal improvement which shall involve the faith or credit of the State, except in aid of the construction of works of internal improvement in the counties of St. Mary's, Charles and Calvert, which have had no direct advantage from such works as have been heretofore aided by the State; and provided that such aid, advances or appropriations shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of five hundred thousand dollars. And they shall not use or appropriate the proceeds of the internal improvement companies, or of the State tax, now levied, or which may hereafter be levied, to pay off the public debt or to any other purpose until the interest and debt are fully paid or the sinking fund shall be equal to the amount of the outstanding debt; but the General Assembly may authorize the Board of Public Works to direct the State Treasurer to borrow in the name of the State, in anticipation of the collection of taxes or other revenues, including proceeds from the sale of bonds, such sum or sums as may be necessary to meet temporary deficiencies in the treasury, to preserve the best interest of the State in the conduct of the various State institutions, departments, bureaus, and agencies during each fiscal year. Subject to the approval of the Board of Public Works and as provided by law, the State Treasurer is authorized to make and sell short-term notes, in the name of the State, in anticipation of the collection of taxes or other revenues, including proceeds from the sale of bonds to meet temporary deficiencies in the Treasury, but such notes must only be made to provide for appropriations already made by the General Assembly. Any revenues anticipated for the purpose of short-term notes, made and sold under the authority of this section, must be so certain as to be readily estimable as to the time of receipt of the revenues and as to the amount of the revenues. The General Assembly may contract debts to any amount that may be necessary for the defense of the State, and provided further that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the raising of funds for the purpose of aiding or compensating in such manner or way as the General Assembly of the State shall deem proper, those citizens of the State who have served, with honor, their Country and State in time of War; provided, however, that such action of the General Assembly shall be effective only when submitted to and approved by a vote of the people of the State at the General Election next following the enactment of such legislation (amended by Chapter 327, Acts of 1924, ratified Nov. 4, 1924; Chapter 234, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 372, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 551, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 600, Acts of 1982, ratified Nov. 2, 1982).
SEC. 35. Extra compensation may not be granted or allowed by the General Assembly to any public Officer, Agent, Servant or Contractor, after the service has been rendered, or the contract entered into; nor may the salary or compensation of any public officer be increased or diminished during his term of office except those whose full term of office is fixed by law in excess of 4 years. However, after January 1, 1956, for services rendered after that date, the salary or compensation of any appointed public officer of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore may be increased or diminished at any time during his term of office; except that as to officers in the Classified City Service, when the salary of any appointed public officer of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore however, increased or decreased, it may not again be increased or decreased, as the case may be, during the term of such public officer (amended by Chapter 416, Acts of 1957, ratified Nov. 4, 1958; Chapter 547, Acts of 1976, ratified Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 976, Acts of 1978, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 35A. Nothing in this Constitution shall exempt the salary or compensation of any judge or other public officer from the imposition by the General Assembly of a non-discriminatory tax upon income, (added by Chapter 771, Acts of 1939, ratified Nov. 5, 1940).
SEC. 36. No Lottery grant shall ever hereafter be authorized by the General Assembly, unless it is a lottery to be operated by and for the benefit of the State (amended by Chapter 364, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972).
SEC. 37. Vacant (repealed by Chapter 681, Acts of 1977, ratified Nov. 7, 1978).
SEC. 38. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, but a valid decree of a court of competent jurisdiction or agreement approved by decree of said court for the support of a spouse or dependent children, or for the support of an illegitimate child or children, or for alimony (either common law or as defined by statute), shall not constitute a debt within the meaning of this section (amended by Chapter 14, Acts of 1950, ratified Nov. 7, 1950; Chapter 121, Acts of 1962, ratified Nov. 6, 1962; Chapter 321, Acts of 1982, ratified Nov. 2, 1982).
SEC. 39. The books, papers and accounts of all banks shall be open to inspection under such regulations as may be prescribed by law (amended by Chapter 151, Acts of Special Session of 1936, ratified Nov. 3, 1936).
SEC. 40. The General Assembly shall enact no Law authorizing private property to be taken for public use without just compensation, as agreed upon between the parties, or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation.
(2) If a name is not submitted by the Central Committee within thirty days after the occurrence of the vacancy, the Governor within another period of fifteen days shall appoint a person, who shall be affiliated with the same political party, if any as was that of the Delegate or Senator, whose office is to be filled, at the time of the last election or appointment of the vacating Delegate or Senator, and who is otherwise properly qualified to hold the office of Delegate or Senator in the District or County.
(1) If the vacancy occurs in a district having the same boundaries as a county, the Central Committee of the county shall submit the name of a resident of the district.