The Mayor, members of the City Council, and members of the School
Committee may be removed from office by recall, provided that no recall
petition may be initiated during the first three months or the last
six months of an incumbent's term, in the manner provided for in the
following sections.
The initiation of the recall process shall be considered to
be the day on which a declaration of intent to circulate a recall
petition is filed with the city clerk and with the board of canvassers,
accompanied by the text of the petition. Each such petition shall
bear the name of no more than one official whose recall is to be sought.
No petition shall be circulated for signature unless such filings
shall have been made.
Following the filing of the declaration of intent, those initiating
the recall shall have 60 days to secure a total number of valid signatures
of registered electors of the city equal to at least 10% of the total
number of registered electors as of the date of filing of the declaration.
The signatures on any recall petition may be on separate papers, but
the purpose of the petition shall be clearly set forth at the top
of each such paper, and each shall bear at the bottom the signed certificate
of the circulator thereof that each signature thereon was affixed
in the presence of the circulator.
The City Clerk shall refer any such completed petition forthwith
to the Board of Canvassers, which shall have 14 days from receipt
thereof to verify that the signatures thereon are those of registered
electors of the City of Pawtucket. If any petition for recall of the
Mayor or of a City Councilor elected At Large, or of an At Large School
Committee member, shall be found to contain valid signatures of 10%
of the registered electors as provided in Sec. 6-302, or if for the
recall of a City Councilor elected from a ward, or a ward School Committee
member, shall be found to contain the valid signatures of 10% of the
number of registered electors resident in that ward, the City Clerk
shall schedule a recall election to be held no less than 30 nor more
than 45 days following the date on which the Board of Canvassers certified
the signatures to be sufficient.
The ballot prepared for any recall election shall include the
name of each public official for whom a petition with sufficient signatures
has been filed, and shall contain the question: "Shall (name of person)
be removed from the office of (name of office)?" for each such official.
For each such question on the ballot the electors voting thereon shall
have the option of voting "yes" or "no." In any such recall election,
if a majority of the votes cast on a question of removal is affirmative,
the person whose removal is sought by that question shall be deemed
to have been removed from office as of certification of the results
by the Board of Canvassers.
The City Council may, by ordinance, make such other further
regulations for carrying out the provisions of this chapter as are
not inconsistent herewith.