Any person holding an elective office of the township, whether
by election, succession or appointment to fill a vacancy, shall be
subject to removal from office at a recall election in the manner
provided in this article.
A recall of an incumbent of an elective office shall be initiated
upon petition signed by thirty percent (30%) of the registered electors
of the township at large. Every recall petition shall name the office
and officer against whom it is directed.
Each elector signing a recall petition shall add to his signature
his occupation, his residence, his election district, and the date
of signing. Signatures on a recall petition may be on separate sheets,
but each sheet shall have appended to it the affidavit of some person,
not necessarily a signer of the petition, that to the best of the
affiant's knowledge and belief the persons whose signatures appear
on the sheet are registered electors of the township, that they signed
with full knowledge of the contents of the petition, and that their
residences are correctly given.
A recall petition shall be tendered for filing to the board
of elections having jurisdiction over elections in the township. No
signature shall be counted as valid which is dated more than sixty
(60) days prior to the date the petition is tendered for filing. Upon
tender to the board of elections, the petition shall be available
for examination by any interested person. Within fifteen (15) days
after tender of the petition, the board of elections shall have authority
to pass upon the validity of the petition and the validity and number
of signatures required thereon. The decision of the board of elections
shall be subject to immediate review on appeal to the Court of Common
Pleas.
As soon as the board having jurisdiction over elections in the
township has accepted a recall petition for filing and determined
its validity and sufficiency, the chairman of the board shall notify
the incumbent named in the petition that the petition has been filed.
Upon receipt of such notice the incumbent may resign from his office
and thereupon the recall proceedings shall terminate.
If the incumbent against whom a recall petition is directed
does not resign from his office within ten (10) days after notice
of the filing of such petition shall have been given to him, the board
having jurisdiction over elections in the township shall arrange a
recall election. If a regular or special election is to be held not
less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days after the
ten (10) days have expired, the recall question shall be placed before
the electors at such an election. Otherwise, a special recall election
shall be fixed by such board for a date not earlier than thirty (30)
days nor later than ninety (90) days after the ten days have expired.
The incumbent against whom a recall petition is directed may resign
at any time prior to the recall election and thereupon the election
shall not be held.
The following question shall be presented to each elector in
a recall election: "Shall (name of officer) be recalled and removed
from the office of (name of office)?"
The above question shall appear as to every officer whose recall
is to be voted upon and provision shall be made for the elector to
vote "Yes" or "No" on the question.
If a majority of the registered electors who vote on the question
at a recall election shall vote "Yes," the incumbent shall be deemed
recalled and removed from office; but if a majority of such registered
electors shall vote "No," he shall remain in office.
Should the result of such election be affirmative, the date
of the removal and vacancy in the office shall be seven (7) days subsequent
to the date when the results of election are certified by the board
having jurisdiction thereon, unless such date is further postponed
by order of court.
No person who has been removed from an elective office by a
recall election, or who has resigned from such an elective officer
after a recall petition directed to him has been filed, shall be eligible
for election or appointment to any office of the township within two
years after his removal or resignation.
No recall petition shall be filed against any incumbent of an
elective office within the first year or the last nine months of the
terms of his office or within nine months after an unsuccessful recall
election against him, but an officer who has been reelected for a
successive term shall be subject to recall also during the first year
of such term.
