[Amended in its entirety by referendum 11-4-1997]
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply specifically to the
City of Pawtucket in the State of Rhode Island.
Whenever used in this act, the following words and phrases shall,
unless the context otherwise requires, be construed to mean as follows:
to mean the City of Pawtucket.
to mean the city council of the City of Pawtucket.
to mean the home rule Charter adopted November 4, 1952.
Commencing in the year 2002, the election for the choosing of
all officials of the City who, by the provisions of this Charter,
now or in the future, are to be voted for by the electors thereof,
shall be held concurrent with the State general election in each even
numbered year. The election will be held on a partisan basis. The
provisions of the Constitution and laws of the State of Rhode Island
now or hereafter in effect pertaining to elections, special, general
and primary, and also all special acts pertaining to elections in
the City now or hereafter in effect, shall govern all City elections,
special, general and primary, so far as they may be applicable, excepting
those provisions which are inconsistent with the provisions of this
Charter affecting the form of government.
The terms of office of such elected City officers shall be those
provided by this Charter or any duly adopted amendment thereto, and
all such officers shall serve until the expiration of their term or
until their respective successors shall be duly elected and qualified.
The terms of office of any and all elected City officers, who are to be voted for by the electors of the City during the municipal election in 1999, shall serve for a term of three (3) years so that the provisions of Section 6-103 of this Chapter may take force and effect commencing with the municipal election held in the year 2002. The municipal election held in 1999, except as specifically provided in this Section shall be held in accordance with Article VI, Chapter 1 of the City Charter presently in effect.
[Amended Ref. of 11-3-1998 (ratified P.L. 99-006, 3-19-1999)]
If a vacancy occurs in the office of Mayor, or City Council
due to death, resignation, inability to serve or removal from the
City or the district which the office holder represents, if any, more
than one hundred and eighty days before the time for holding the next
succeeding municipal election, the Board of Canvassers shall call
a special election for the purpose of filling such vacancy for the
remainder of the term, such special election to be held not less than
fifty-five days nor more than sixty days after the date of the occurrence
of such vacancy. In the event that any state election, regular or
special, or any city election for any other purpose shall be held
within the said period, the Board may in its discretion order any
special election required by the provisions of this section to be
held at the same time as such other city or state election.
Except as expressly otherwise provided, all appointed officers
shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing power and until their
successors are qualified and all members of boards and commissions
shall serve for the terms for which they were appointed or elected
and until their successors are qualified, unless sooner removed for
cause.
A vacancy in an appointive office for a term shall be filled
by appointment for the balance of the unexpired term. Such an appointment
shall be made in the same manner as an original appointment.
The school committee shall consist of seven members elected
from the City at large, each to serve a term of two years, or until
his or her successor is elected and qualified.
Nominating petitions for city officers to be elected at large
including members of the school committee, shall require the signatures
of not less than two hundred qualified electors of the City. Nominating
petitions for city officers to be elected from councilmanic districts
shall require the signatures of not less than fifty qualified electors
of the city eligible at the time of signing said petitions to vote
in the councilmanic district for which the said officer is being nominated.
Electors may sign any number of nomination papers for any office for
which the elector may lawfully vote at the election. With each signature
shall be stated the place of residence of the signer, giving the street
and number or description sufficient to identify it. The signatures
on the nominating petition need not be subscribed on one paper, but
to each separate paper there shall be attached a signed statement
of the circulator thereof, under oath, stating the number of signers
of such paper and that each signature appended thereto was made in
his or her presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose
name it purports to be.
No nominating petition shall be accepted by the Board of Canvassers
unless prior thereto, or simultaneously therewith the candidate shall
file with the Board of Canvassers a statement indicating his or her
intention to become a candidate. No person shall be a candidate for
more than one office at any election. Each candidate statement shall
contain such additional items of information and certifications as
are required of candidates for elective office by regulations of the
Board of Canvassers or in applicable state law.
Whenever there is a contest within any voting district, a primary
election shall be held in the voting district and the names of all
candidates for local office who are contesting a particular local
office shall appear on the ballots.
All certified lists of candidates shall be prescribed by Title
17 of the General Laws of the State of Rhode Island.
When nomination papers have been duly filed, and are in apparent
conformity with this Charter, they shall be conclusively presumed
to be valid, unless written objections thereto are made as to the
eligibility of the candidate or the sufficiency of the nomination
papers or the signatures thereon. Unless otherwise specified under
the General Laws, all such objections shall be filed with the board
of canvassers, by 4 o'clock in the afternoon on the next business
day after the last day fixed for filing such nomination papers as
heretofore provided.
Unless otherwise specified under the General Laws, all objections
to nomination papers shall be considered by the board of canvassers.
The board may at the hearing on such objections summon witnesses,
administer oaths, and require the production of books, papers, and
documents. Such witnesses shall be summoned in the same manner, be
paid the same fees, and be subject to the same penalties for default
as witnesses before the superior court. A summons may be sworn to
and an oath may be administered by the said board. When such objection
has been filed, notice thereof shall be forthwith given by registered
mail, or by personal service, by the board, to the candidate, addressed
to the residence of the candidate as given in the nomination papers,
to which objection is made. Additional notice may also be given by
the board if it sees fit to do so. The decision of said board shall
be rendered within five days after filing of objections and shall
forthwith be certified by the board to the secretary of state. Following
the determination of objections, if any, to the nomination papers,
the board shall forthwith certify to the secretary of state, the names
and addresses of all candidates who have filed valid nomination papers.
At all elections, each qualified elector shall be entitled to
cast one vote for each officer to be elected at large, including members
of the school committee; and one vote for each officer to be elected
in the district in which he shall reside and be qualified to vote.
At all primaries, each qualified elector shall be entitled to vote
for the same number of candidates for each office under party labels
for which he would be entitled to vote at the election following said
primary.
The election officials so appointed shall be sworn and shall
have all of the powers, perform all of the duties and be subject to
all of the obligations as are conferred upon and required of them
by law.
The candidates for election at all municipal elections shall
be the persons nominated where no primary was required.
Voting machines which shall have been approved by the state
board of elections shall be used at all elections and primary elections
unless the number of candidates shall be such as to make the use of
voting machines impracticable or impossible.
If voting machines cannot be used at any election, then paper
ballots shall be prepared by the board of canvassers and shall be
used in said elections or primary election.
The provisions of the laws of the State of Rhode Island pertaining
to elections and related matters, including the rights and qualifications
of voters; the registration of voters, the board of canvassers and
registration, and the registering, listing, and returning lists of
voters, and proof of their qualification to votes; canvassing the
rights and correcting the list of voters; elective meetings; the hours
of opening and closing polls; voting machines; absentee voting; and
crimes, penalties and forfeiture under the election laws; and any
and all other provisions of the laws of the State of Rhode Island
relating to the qualifications of electors, registration, the manner
of voting, the duties of election officials and all other particulars
in respect to preparation for, conducting and management of elections,
shall govern every city primary, general and special election, so
far as they may be applicable, excepting those provisions which are
inconsistent with this Act.
When voting machines are used, a representative of each candidate
shall be permitted to check the machines to be used at a time and
place designated by the board of canvassers or the election officials
of the state, before they shall be sealed. Such representatives, and
representatives of the press, shall further be permitted to cheek
the accuracy of the votes tabulated upon said machines before said
vote shall become official. If paper ballots shall be used, after
counting, the ballots shall be redeposited in the ballot boxes and
the ballot boxes shall be sealed at the various polling places and
shall be delivered to the board of canvassers by the proper election
officials. No paper ballot shall be considered invalid unless it fails
to clearly indicate the intent of the voter. All votes shall be counted
and tabulated in accordance with existing laws, and in the case of
paper ballots, they shall be resealed in containers by voting districts
in the presence of the representatives of candidates and the press,
and shall be kept intact for a period of two years unless both reopened
and later resealed in the presence of representatives of candidates
and the press for purposes of recount or unless reopened pursuant
to the order of any court.
The number of persons to be elected to any office receiving
severally the highest number of votes cast for candidates for said
office, shall be deemed elected, and the board of canvassers shall
certify the persons so elected by delivery to each of them of a certificate
of election, and by transmitting to the city clerk a complete list
of all persons so elected.
The canvassing authority of the city shall be the Board of Canvassers,
which shall consist of three qualified electors of the city, not more
than two of whom shall be adherents of the same political party, who
shall be appointed upon nomination by the Mayor with the approval
of a majority of the Council, to serve for six year staggered terms.
The Mayor of the city shall, on or before the date of the first regular
meeting of the Council in the month of February, appoint a qualified
elector as a member of said board to replace the member whose term
is next expiring, to serve a term commencing on the first Monday of
March of said year. The member whose term is expiring on the first
Monday in March in any year shall cease to serve at such expiration
unless such member has been reappointed in accordance with the provisions
hereof or unless a successor who has been appointed in accordance
with the provisions hereof shall have failed to qualify for any reason
other than death. Vacancies in the said board, except vacancies occurring
by expiration of term for which appointed which shall be filled as
herein provided for appointments at expiration of terms, shall be
filled for the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner
as for newly appointed members of the board at the first regular meeting
of the council next following one month after the date of the occurrence
of such vacancy. Each appointee shall be an adherent to one of the
political parties which received in the next previous general election
for state senators not less than twenty-five per cent of the total
vote cast in the city for state senators from the city, and appointments
shall be made in the following manner: No later than fourteen days
before the date of the first regularly scheduled meeting of the council
in February in each year, and within fourteen days after the occurrence
of a vacancy on said board, the chairman of the city committee of
each of the political parties aforesaid, shall submit to the mayor
a list of qualified electors of the city containing five times the
number of names as there are persons to be appointed. If the chairman
of any of said political parties shall fail to submit a list as aforesaid,
then within forty-eight hours thereafter, a majority of the members
of the city committee of said political party may submit such a list
to the mayor. The mayor shall then submit to the council from said
lists the names of the persons nominated by him for appointment to
said board. If the council shall refuse to approve the appointment
of any person to said board, the mayor shall submit to the council
the name of another person on one of said lists, and so on until the
council shall approve the name of a person so submitted or until the
council shall have refused to approve all of the names on one of said
lists; provided, however, that, in making an appointment for the term
beginning on the first Monday in March in any year the mayor shall
submit in rotation as herein provided, at regular or special meetings
of the council, from at least one of said lists the names of the persons
nominated by him for appointment to said board until before the said
first Monday in March in such year that council shall have approved
the appointment of one of such persons or shall have refused to approve
the appointment of all of the names on one of said list and in making
an appointment to fill a vacancy on said board the mayor shall submit
in rotation as herein provided, at regular or special meetings of
the council, from at least one of said lists the names of the persons
nominated by him for appointment to said board until before the expiration
of forty-five days after the occurrence of such vacancy the council
shall have approved the appointment of one such persons or shall have
refused to approve the appointment of all of the names on one of said
lists. If the council shall refuse to approve the appointment of all
of the names on one of said lists, the mayor shall appoint from the
list of names all of which the council shall have refused to approve
any of the persons named thereon without the approval of the council;
provided, however, should for any reason no person from either of
said lists have been appointed to said board before the first Monday
in March in any year for the term beginning on the first Monday in
March in such year, or should for any reason no person from either
of said lists have been appointed to said board to fill a vacancy
before the expiration of thirty days after the occurrence of such
vacancy, the mayor shall appoint without the approval of the council
one of the persons on said lists to serve until a person from one
of said lists is appointed as provided herein. If the chairman of
the city committee of a political party entitled to an appointment
to said board, or such city committee, shall fail or refuse to submit
a list of names as aforesaid, the mayor shall appoint to said board
with the approval of a majority of the members of the council, any
person known by him to be a member of the political party entitled
to said appointment.
No person shall be appointed or serve as a member of said board
who is an officer or employee of the United States or of this state
or of any city or town of this state; provided, that he may act as
clerk thereof. Any member of said board who becomes a candidate for
election to any public office and who fails to file a declination
of said candidacy within the time allowed by law, shall be disqualified
from holding membership upon said board and his successor shall be
appointed forthwith.
Every person appointed shall before entering upon his duties
be sworn to the faithful performance thereof and a record of such
oath shall be kept by the clerk of said board. If there shall be no
mayor or if some other officer shall be the chief executive officer
of the city, all references in this section to the mayor shall be
deemed to refer to such officer acting as chief executive officer
of the city.
(A)
In the event that more than two political groups qualify for
formal status as parties pursuant to Section 17-1-2(f) of the General
Laws, the party or parties in addition to the Republican and Democratic
Parties shall be accorded such representation on the Board as may
be provided for in State Law. In the event that State Law does not
make provision for the representation of more than two qualifying
parties, the Council shall by ordinance make provision for such representation
effective pending State action. Any such additional Board member or
members shall be chosen as nearly as possible in the manner prescribed
in this Section for six year terms. In the event that any party represented
on the Board is found no longer to qualify for formal party status,
the term of the person appointed to represent that party shall terminate
upon formal withdrawal of the designation of party status.
The board of canvassers shall prescribe and furnish all forms
to be used in said elections in conformance with law, which forms
shall be paid for by the city.
[Amended Ref. of 7-7-2022, approved at referendum 11-8-2022]
All municipal election campaigns shall comply with "Rhode Island
Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act"[1] and all other applicable campaign finance law as such
may be amended from time to time.
[1]
Editor's Notes: See R.I.G.L. § 17-25-1 et seq.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this
Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances
shall not be affected there.
If any part, subdivision or section of this Act shall be declared
unconstitutional, the validity of the remaining parts shall not be
affected thereby.
