Any holder of an elective office may be recalled and removed
therefrom by the qualified voters of the Town as herein provided.
[Amended 5-9-2022 ATM by Art. 15]
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 he shall keep on hand. The blanks shall be issued by the Town
Clerk with his or her signature and official seal attached thereto;
they shall be dated and addressed to the Select Board, 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 20 days after
the filing of the affidavit. Said petition, before being returned
and filed, shall be signed by 20% of registered voters, and to every
signature shall be added the place of residence of the signer, giving
the 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 5-9-2022 ATM by Art. 15]
If the petition shall be found and certified by the Town Clerk
to be sufficient, he shall submit it with his or her certificate to
the Select Board without delay. The Select Board 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 25 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 60 days after the date of said certificate, the Select
Board 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 this Section provides.
Any officer sought to be recalled may be a candidate to succeed
himself, and unless he requests otherwise in writing, the Town Clerk
shall place his or her 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.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his or her office until the recall election. If then re-elected, he shall continue in office for the remainder of his or her unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in Section
8-7. If not re-elected in the recall election, he shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of his or her successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of his or her 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).
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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.
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No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within
three months after he takes office, nor, in the case of an officer
subjected to a recall election and not removed thereby, until at least
three months after that election.
No person who has been recalled from an office or who has resigned
from office while recall proceedings were pending against him or her
shall be appointed to any Town office within two years after such
removal by recall or resignation.