Any holder of an elective office may be recalled,
and removed therefrom by the qualified voters of the Town as herein
provided.
[Amended 12-2-2019 STM, Art. 18, approved 2020 Annual Town
Election]
Any qualified voter of the Town may file with
the Town Clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought
to be recalled and a statement of the grounds of recall. The Town
Clerk shall thereupon deliver to the voter making such affidavit a
sufficient number of copies of petition blanks demanding such recall,
printed forms of which they shall keep on hand. The blanks shall be
issued by the Town Clerk with their signature and official seal attached
thereto; they shall be dated and addressed to the Selectboard, shall
contain the name of the person to whom issued, the number of blanks
so issued, the name of the person sought to be recalled, the grounds
of recall as stated in said affidavit, and shall demand the election
of a successor to such office. A copy of the petition shall be entered
in a record book to be kept in the office of the Town Clerk. The recall
petition shall be returned and filed with the Town Clerk within twenty
days after the filing of the affidavit. Said petition before being
returned and filed shall be signed by five percent of registered voters,
and to every signature shall be added the place of residence of the
signer, giving street and number. The recall petition shall be submitted
by the Town Clerk at or before 4:30 o'clock in the afternoon of the
day following the day on which it must be filed to the Registrars
of Voters in the Town, and the Registrars shall forthwith certify
thereon the number of signatures which are names of voters of the
Town.
[Amended 12-2-2019 STM, Art. 18, approved 2020 Annual Town
Election]
If the petition shall be found and certified
by the Town Clerk to be sufficient, they shall submit it with their
certificate to the Selectboard without delay. The Selectboard shall
forthwith give written notice to said officer of the receipt of said
certificate and, if the officer sought to be removed does not resign
within five days, shall order an election to be held on a Tuesday
fixed by them not less than twenty-five days after the date of the
Town Clerk's certificate that a sufficient petition is filed. If any
other Town election is to occur within sixty days after the date of
said certificate the Selectboard may, at their discretion, postpone
the holding of the recall election to the date of such other election.
If a vacancy occurs in said office after a recall election has been
so ordered, the election shall nevertheless proceed as in this section
provided.
[Amended 12-2-2019 STM, Art. 18, approved 2020 Annual Town
Election]
Any officer sought to be recalled may be a candidate
to succeed themselves, and unless they request otherwise in writing,
the Town Clerk, shall place their name on the official ballot without
nomination. The nomination of other candidates, the publication of
the warrant for the recall election, and the conduct of the same shall
be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections,
unless otherwise provided in this Charter.
[Amended 12-2-2019 STM, Art. 18, approved 2020 Annual Town
Election]
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of their office until the recall election. If then re-elected, they shall continue in office for the remainder of their unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in § C9-7. If not re-elected in the recall election, they shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of their successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of their election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the office vacant.
Ballots used in a recall election shall submit
the following propositions in the order indicated:
|
For the recall of (name of officer).
| |
|
Against the recall of (name of officer).
| |
|
Under the proposition shall appear the word
"Candidates" and the direction "Vote for one" and beneath this the
names of candidate(s); the candidate(s) receiving the greatest number
of votes shall be deemed elected.
| |
[Amended 12-2-2019 STM, Art. 18, approved 2020 Annual Town
Election]
No recall petition shall be filed against an
officer within three months after they takes office, nor, in the case
of an office subjected to a recall election and not removed thereby,
until at least three months after that election.
[Amended 12-2-2019 STM, Art. 18, approved 2020 Annual Town
Election]
No person who has been recalled from an office
or who has resigned from office while recall proceedings were pending
against them shall be appointed to any Town office within two years
after such removal by recall or resignation.
