tutionally valid apportionment scheme
prior to the 1966 elections.84
The subsequent 1965 regular session
of the legislature did not enact a new
apportionment scheme, but a special
session called by Governor Tawes in
1966 did. In fact, two apportionment
plans, Senate Bill 5 and Senate Bill 8,
were enacted. Senate Bill 8 gave the
less populous areas of the State more
favorable representation in the Senate
than they were given by Senate Bill 5.
Senate Bill 8 also provided that if it,
Senate Bill 8, were held valid by the
Court of Appeals, Senate Bill 5 was not
to become effective. Governor Tawes
signed both bills, stating that although
he thought Senate Bill 8 to be unconsti-
tutional, this was a matter on which the
legislature was entitled to a decision by
the Court of Appeals.
Senate Bill 5 and Senate Bill 8 had
identical provisions for the apportion-
ment of the House of Delegates. The
House of Delegates was to have 142
members, with each county and Balti-
more City having a minimum of one
representative. This accounted for 24
of the 142 seats. The remaining 118
seats were to be distributed among the
counties and Baltimore City on the basis
of population. This procedure gave
Kent County, with a population of
15,481, one representative. Dorchester
County, with a population of 29,666,
84 377 U.S. 656, 676 (1964).
148
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also received one representative. In
Baltimore County, with 22 delegates
representing 492,428 persons, each dele-
gate represented an average of 22,383
persons. In the six legislative districts
of Baltimore City, the number of per-
sons represented by each delegate varied
from a low of 20,895 to a high of 23,205.
Looking at the House of Delegates as
a whole, 49.5 per cent of the population
of the State could elect one-half of the
delegates, while the remaining 50.5 per
cent of the population could elect the
other one-half.
Senate Bill 8 provided for a 53-
member Senate elected from 29 sena-
torial districts. One senator was allo-
cated to each of 19 of Maryland's 23
counties. The remaining 34 seats were
allocated to the remaining more popu-
lous counties and Baltimore City.
Under this bill, Kent and Calvert coun-
ties, with populations of 15,481 and
15,826, respectively, were each entitled
to one senator. Allegany County, with
84,169 persons, and Washington
County, with 91,219, were also entitled
to one senator apiece. The representa-
tion of Kent County was thus six times
that of Washington County. Baltimore
City, with 939,024 population, had 12
senators, a more favorable representa-
tion than that allocated to Washington
County.
Senate Bill 5 provided for 43 senators
to be elected from 16 senatorial districts,
as follows:
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