[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Berlin 7-11-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-9. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 5-1. Financial disclosure.

Candidates for elective offices shall be subject to all applicable provisions of Chapter 6, Ethics, of the Berlin Code regarding financial disclosure by candidates.

§ 5-2. Campaign activities.

In addition to the provisions set forth in Chapter 38B of the Berlin Code regarding standards for campaign literature, the following provisions shall apply:

1. Any political committee authorized by a candidate to receive contributions or make expenditures shall be authorized in writing by the candidate and must register with the Town of Berlin.
2. Any committee formed for the sole purpose of supporting a candidate or for supporting or opposing a referendum issue or question which expends more than $50 during any one election on advertisement, literature or campaign materials of any kind must register with the Town of Berlin.
3. Any person or persons, whether in their capacity as individuals or as representatives of a business or organization, which expends more than $25 during any one election on advertisement, literature or campaign materials of any kind for the purpose of supporting or opposing a referendum issue or question must register with the Town of Berlin.
4. All campaign literature or materials, whether in support of an individual candidate or in support or opposition to a referendum question, shall state the name of the sponsor or sponsors, that the opinions expressed therein represent the sole views of that sponsor or sponsors and that the statement or advertisement is a paid political advertisement.
5. It shall be unlawful for any individual, association, unincorporated association, corporation or any other entity, either directly or indirectly, to contribute in any election cycle any money or thing of value greater than $1,000 to any one candidate or political committee or to contribute any amount in excess of $100, except by check.

§ 5-3. Campaign signs.

1. Campaign signs may be erected or posted, subject to the limitations and provisions of this chapter, not more than 60 calendar days preceding the applicable election and shall be removed within seven calendar days following the day of the applicable election.
2. Prior to the posting of any campaign signs, posters or placards, whether for an individual or a measure being supported or opposed, the candidate or committee must have approval for the resident or owner of the property involved.
3. Campaign signs may not be posted or erected so as to obstruct traffic view from any direction, nor may they obstruct any pedestrian thoroughfare or public way.
4. Prior to the close of polls on election day, campaign signs which have been lawfully posted or erected may not be removed by persons not authorized by the candidate or group responsible for the posting or erection of those signs.

§ 5-4. Prohibited practices.

The following practices shall be prohibited during the conduct of an election or campaign and shall be punishable under the provisions set forth in § 5-9 of this chapter:

1. Offering of a bribe. Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, by himself or by another, give, offer or promise to any person any money, gift, advantage, preferment, aid, emolument or any valuable thing whatever, whether for the public good or the personal gain of the person to whom such offer is made, for the purpose of inducing or procuring any person to vote or refrain from voting for or against any candidate or for or against any measure or proposition on the ballot during a town election shall be deemed to have offered a bribe.
2. Accepting or soliciting a bribe. Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, receive, accept, request or solicit from any person, candidate, committee, association, organization, corporation or entity, any money, gift, advantage, preferment, aid, emolument or any valuable thing whatsoever, whether for the public good or the personal gain of the person receiving such consideration, for the purpose of inducing or procuring any person to vote or refrain from voting for or against any candidate or for or against any measure or proposition during a town election shall be deemed to have accepted a bribe.
3. Acting on a bribe. Any person who, in consideration of any money, gift, advantage, preferment, aid, emolument or any valuable thing whatsoever paid, received, accepted or promised, whether for the public good or the personal gain of the person receiving such consideration, shall vote or refrain from voting for or against any candidate or for or against any measure or proposition at any town election shall be deemed to have acted on a bribe.
4. Political contributions in a false name. Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, by himself or through another person, make a payment or promise of payment to a treasurer or candidate in any other name than his own and every treasurer or candidate who shall knowingly receive a payment or promise of payment and enters the same or causes the same to be entered in his accounts in any other name than that of the person or persons by whom such payment or promise of payment is made shall be deemed to have violated this provision.
5. Coercing employees.
1. Any employer, whether natural person or corporate entity, who pays his employees the salary or wages due in pay envelopes, upon which there is written or printed or in which there is enclosed any political motto, device or argument containing threats, expressed or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of such employees or who retaliates with disciplinary action within 90 days following an election, puts or otherwise exhibits in the establishment or place where his employees are engaged in labor, any handbill or placard containing any threat, notice or information that if any particular candidate, measure or proposition is elected or defeated, work in his place or establishment will cease, in whole or in part, his establishment will be closed up, the wages of his employees will be reduced or any other threats, expressed or implied, that are intended or calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of his employees, shall be deemed to have coerced such employees.
2. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer from posting notices or issuing other reminders to his employees of upcoming elections or registration periods or from otherwise encouraging employees to exercise their right to register and vote in a nonpolitical fashion without opinions, expressed or implied, of the employer’s viewpoint or direction regarding a specific candidate or issue.

§ 5-5. Absentee voting.

Any qualified voter who may be unavoidably absent from the Town or who is otherwise prevented from being physically present to vote in person at the polls on the day of any municipal election may vote by absentee ballot, subject to provisions as follows:

1. Printed application forms for the request of absentee ballots shall be provided by the Board of Supervisors of Elections. Application deadlines will be advertised by the Board of Elections Supervisors in accordance with the notice provisions of Article VI of the Charter.
2. Applications for absentee ballots may be submitted not more than 30 calendar days and not less than seven calendar days prior to the election to which they apply. The signature of the applicant for an absentee ballot must be witnessed and dated. Applications for absentee ballots must be approved by the Chairman of the Board of Elections Supervisors or the chairman’s authorized designee. Should the chairman or designee determine that an application may not be acceptable or valid for any reason, the application will be reviewed by the entire Board of Elections Supervisors and may be rejected only by majority vote of that body.
3. Upon approval of the application, absentee ballots will be mailed, except when less than five calendar days remain before the applicable election. After that time, ballots may be obtained in person, at any time, up to and including one hour prior to the close of the polls on election day, provided that the application has been approved.
4. Absentee ballots may be obtained by an authorized agent for a voter who is unable to pick up a ballot in person, upon presentation of a valid application approved the Board of Elections Supervisors and a written authorization signed by the voter for whom the ballot is being obtained.
5. Postage for mailing of a ballot or application to the voter will be paid by the Town, and postage for the return of ballots shall be paid by the voter.
6. Only those absentee ballots which are physically received by the Board of Elections Supervisors or the Town office prior to the close of polls or the day of the applicable election will be counted in the results for that election.
7. Any absentee ballot showing a vote for a person who is no longer a valid candidate for any reason will not be counted for that candidate, but such vote will not invalidate the remainder of the ballot.
8. When the Board of Elections Supervisors has sufficient proof that an absentee voter has died or otherwise become ineligible to vote in town elections before election day, that ballot shall not be counted, unless proof is received after the counting is completed.

§ 5-6. Voter assistance.

1. Physical assistance shall be provided by election judges or town employees, whenever necessary, to any voter who, due to physical infirmity, has difficulty in voting. The town shall make all reasonable appropriate provisions for handicapped voters, including without limitation the provision of handicapped ramps and otherwise making polls accessible.
2. A voter may be accompanied by his or her designee into the voting machine or balloting stall to provide physical assistance in operating the machine or marking the ballot if the voter is incapable of doing so personally because of physical infirmity or due to an inability to see, read or understand the ballot. If a voter physically incapable of operating the voting machine or marking a ballot personally has no designee, physical assistance may be provided by election judges at the voter’s request. In the event that such assistance is requested, one election judge, in the presence or hearing of another election judge, shall mark the ballot or operate the voting machine at the direction of the voter requesting assistance. It shall be unlawful for any person providing such assistance to operate the voting machine or mark a ballot except at the voter’s direction, without prompting or suggestion from the person or persons providing such assistance.
3. If any voter, after entering the voting machine or booth shall ask for further instructions concerning the manner of voting, then two elections judges shall give him such instructions on the mechanical operation of the machine or the proper method of completing the ballot, including without limitation reading the ballot aloud for the voter to make his desired selection, but no judge shall in any manner request, suggest or otherwise seek to persuade or influence any voter in the individual choices made during the casting of that ballot or vote.
4. In the event that the physical capability of an otherwise qualified voter appears to be sufficient to operate the voting machine or mark the ballot, even though that person requests accompaniment by election judges or a designee, the ruling of the Chairman of the Board of Election Supervisors, in consultation with the election judges and supervisors present shall apply for the election day in question. Voters denied assistance may provide acceptable evidence, by affidavit or other means, of their physical incapability, illiteracy or language barrier for that election day or for purposes of filing for assistance in future elections.
5. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no voter may be accompanied into a voting booth or machine by any person over the age of five years.

§ 5-7. Electioneering.

1. No person shall canvass, electioneer or post any campaign material in any polling place or within a one-hundred-foot radius of the entrance or exit of the building where ballots are cast. This prohibition shall not apply to a voter who parks a vehicle containing a campaign bumper sticker within the one-hundred-foot radius of the polls, but it shall apply to a vehicle that is posted with more than one campaign sign or sticker.
2. Any person conducting or assisting in an entrance or exit poll during the hours of the voting polls’ operation must wear an identifying badge stating the person’s name and candidate or group affiliation.
3. The Berlin Police Department shall be responsible for the enforcement of the electioneering prohibitions and shall cite violators under the provisions of § 5-9 of this chapter.

§ 5-8. Tabulation and announcement of election results.

In addition to the provisions set forth in Article VI of the Berlin Charter for the conduct of elections, the following provisions shall apply:

1. The Chairman of the Board of Elections Supervisors shall announce the unofficial results of the election as soon as possible after the polls close and results have been tabulated. The Chairman shall post or cause to be posted the unofficial results of the vote on the Town Hall bulletin board, government access channel or other available means by the next business day following the close of the polls and the tabulation of the vote.
2. Poll watchers may be selected by duly-nominated individual candidates or by the presiding officer of the chief managing committee of any voluntarily associated group of candidates or proponents or opponents of a measure on the ballot. Such watchers shall have the rights and be subject to the same limitations set forth in Article 33, § 15-3 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended from time to time.
3. Each group, organization, corporation or committee duly registered with the Town according to § 5-2 of this chapter, may have one representative present during the counting and tabulating of election results. Individual candidates who were duly nominated for placement on the ballot may have one representative in addition to themselves present during the counting and tabulating of election results.
4. The Chief of the Berlin Police Department or his authorized designee shall act as Sergeant-at-Arms during the counting and tabulating of the election results and shall, at the request of the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Elections, remove any person present during that tabulation who becomes unruly, disorderly or otherwise disruptive to the process of tabulation.
5. Upon completion of the unofficial count and tabulation, the media and the public will be admitted to the polling place or other site of the tabulation process for the announcement of the unofficial results. Official results will be certified to the Administrative Director of the Town of Berlin within 48 hours after the close of the polls, in accordance with Article VI, § C6-12 of the Charter.

§ 5-9. Violation and penalties.

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned for not more than six months, or both in the discretion of the court, and shall be ineligible for any public office within the Town of Berlin for a period of four years following the date of such conviction. In the event that any state law pertaining to misdemeanor penalties and convictions is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be applicable to a violation of this chapter, the more restrictive penalty shall apply.

§ 5-10. Applicability.

Every act which, by the terms and provisions of this chapter, is deemed a violation when committed in reference to the election of a candidate, is equally in violation and subject to the same penalties when committed in reference to a proposition, question or measure submitted to the Board of Elections Supervisors for inclusion on any general or special election ballot or for referendum vote.