MD. LEGISLATURE OVERRIDES VETO ON FELON VOTING

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- The Maryland General Assembly on Tuesday overrode Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of a bill with the help of a lawmaker who was allowed to vote twice: once as a member of the House and again as a senator.

The vote happened with the tightest of margins amid debate about whether it was proper for one lawmaker to vote twice.

The vote, which became snagged in some confusion Tuesday before it was finally passed, already had been delayed for weeks because the Senate was one vote short of the three-fifths majority needed to pass it after a vacancy was created by a retiring senator. Hogan appointed Del. Craig Zucker, a Democrat first chosen by Democratic officials, to fill the Senate seat. As a member of the House, Zucker already had voted in favor of overriding the veto.

The Senate voted 29-18 on two similar bills: One includes Zucker's vote as both a member of the Senate and the House, and is the one that makes the veto override official because it had already been approved by the other chamber. The second bill contains Zucker's vote only as a senator. This bill still needs to be approved by the House for the override to be official.

Republicans say the distinction between the two bills matters, because they have questioned the constitutionality of one lawmaker voting twice on the same veto override.

More