A.
A Special Town Meeting may be called by the Select Board or shall
be called by said Board upon the request, in writing, of at least
two hundred (200) registered voters of the Town.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
B.
By written petition to the Select Board, any ten (10) voters of the
Town may secure the inclusion of an article for the warrants of the
Annual Town Meeting in the spring and the regular Fall Town Meeting,
provided that such petition shall be submitted in compliance with
the requirements established by bylaw.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
C.
By written petition to the Select Board, any one hundred (100) voters
may secure the inclusion of an article for the warrant of any Special
Town Meeting, provided that such petition shall be submitted at least
thirty (30) days in advance of the date of such meeting.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § C6-2, Publicizing of vacancies,
was repealed ATE 5-21-2013.
The regular election for all Town offices shall be by official
ballot held on a date established by bylaw.
All Town elections shall be nonpartisan, and election ballots
shall be printed without any party mark or designation.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
Any registered voter of the Town shall be eligible for election
to any elective office or governmental body of the Town; provided,
however, that no person shall hold, concurrently, more than one (1)
at-large elective office of the Town.
A.
Except as otherwise provided by General Laws, the order in which
the names of all candidates, including incumbents, appearing on election
ballots for any office shall be determined by a drawing, by lot, conducted
by the Town Clerk, which shall be open to the public.
B.
Before every election, the Town Clerk shall make available the names
and residences of all candidates to be voted for and the form of any
questions to be submitted to the voters at such election. Such lists
shall be a public record, and the Town Clerk shall cause one (1) copy
of the official ballot to be posted in Town Hall and published in
a newspaper of general circulation within the Town at least one week
prior to the election.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
Any person duly elected to any office or governmental body shall
take up the duties of the office on the first business day of the
week following the election and following certification of the Town
Clerk.
A.
A vote of the Town Meeting under any article in the warrant shall
not be operative until the expiration of five (5) days after the final
adjournment of the Town Meeting, other than the following:
B.
If within such period of five (5) days a petition signed by not less
than five percent (5%) of the registered voters in the Town is filed
with the Town Clerk asking that any question involved in such a vote
be submitted to the voters of the Town, then a referendum shall be
held for the sole purpose of presenting the question to the voters
of the Town.
C.
The Town Clerk shall, within one (1) working day of receipt of said
petition, submit the petition to the Board of Registrars in the Town,
and the Registrars shall within fourteen (14) working days certify
thereon the signatures which are names of registered voters. If the
petition shall be found and certified by the Board of Registrars to
be sufficient, the Town Clerk shall within one (1) working day submit
same with a certificate so stating to the Select Board. The Select
Board shall within seven (7) working days order a special election
to be held on a date fixed by them, which shall not be less than sixty
(60) nor more than eighty (80) days after the date of the Town Clerk's
certificate that a sufficient petition has been filed.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
D.
Each question to be voted on in the referendum shall be submitted
to the voters in the following form: "Shall the Town vote to approve
the action of the Town Meeting whereby it was voted that [here insert
a brief summary of the substance of the vote]?"
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
E.
All procedures for voting upon such a question shall be in the same
manner as is provided by General Laws for the conduct of Special Town
Elections.
A.
Any elected officeholder, except Town Meeting members, may be recalled
by the voters as herein provided.
B.
One hundred (100) registered voters of the Town may file with the
Town Clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officeholder sought
to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for recall; provided,
however, that not more than twenty-five (25) names shall be from any
one (1) precinct of the Town.
C.
The Town Clerk shall within one (1) working day of receipt submit
the affidavit to the Board of Registrars in the Town, and the Registrars
shall within fourteen (14) days certify thereon the signatures which
are names of registered voters. If the affidavit shall be found and
certified by the Board of Registrars to be sufficient, the Town Clerk
shall thereupon deliver to the ten (10) voters first named on such
affidavit a sufficient number of copies of petition blanks demanding
such recall, printed forms which shall be kept available. The blanks
when issued shall be signed by the Town Clerk and shall have the Official
Seal attached thereto. They shall be dated and addressed to the Select
Board and shall contain the names of the ten (10) persons to whom
they are issued, the number of petitions to be issued, the name of
the officeholder whose recall is sought, the grounds for recall as
stated in the affidavit and shall require the election of a successor
to such office.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
D.
The recall petition shall bear the signatures and residential addresses
of at least fifteen percent (15%) of the registered voters, no more
than twenty-five percent (25%) of which shall be from any one (1)
precinct, and shall be returned to the Town Clerk within twenty (20)
working days after the filing of the affidavit. The petitions containing
the signatures requesting a recall election need not all be submitted
at the same time.
E.
The Town Clerk shall within one (1) working day of receipt submit
the petition to the Board of Registrars in the Town, and the Registrars
shall within fourteen (14) working days certify thereon the number
of signatures which are names of registered voters.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
F.
If the petition shall be found and certified by the Board of Registrars
to be sufficient, the Town Clerk shall submit the same with a certificate
so stating to the Select Board. The Select Board shall, within three
(3) working days, give written notice by registered mail of the receipt
of the certificate to the officeholder sought to be recalled.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
G.
Unless the officeholder shall have resigned within five (5) days
thereafter, the Select Board shall order a special election to be
held on a date fixed by them, which shall be not less than sixty (60)
nor more than eighty (80) days after the date of the Town Clerk's
certificate that a sufficient petition has been filed; provided, however,
that if any other Town election is to occur within ninety (90) days
after the date of the certificate, the Select Board shall postpone
the holding of the special election to the date of such other election.
[Amended ATE 5-19-2020, Question 3]
H.
Any officeholder sought to be removed may not be a candidate to succeed
himself in the recall election. The nomination of candidates, the
publication of the warrant for the recall election and the conduct
of the same shall all be in accordance with the provisions of General
Laws relating to elections, and the election to replace the officeholder
sought to be removed shall be held on the same day and on the same
ballot as the recall election.
I.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of office until
the recall election. If not recalled, the incumbent shall continue
in office for the remainder of the unexpired term. An incumbent having
successfully survived a recall election shall not again be subject
to recall until six (6) months after such survival. If recalled, the
incumbent shall be deemed removed upon the certification of the successor
who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor
fails to qualify within five (5) days after receiving notification
of election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the
office vacant.
J.
The form of the question to be voted upon shall be substantially
as follows: "Shall [here insert the name and title of the elective
officer whose recall is sought] be recalled?" The action of the voters
to recall shall require a majority vote, but shall not be effective
unless the total of those voting for and against recall shall exceed
twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters of the Town.
K.
No person, having been removed from office by recall or having resigned
from office while recall proceedings were pending against him, shall
be appointed to any Town office within two (2) years following said
removal or resignation.