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.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
The recall of an incumbent of an elective office shall be initiated upon petition signed by registered electors of the Township at large equal in number to at least 30% of the vote cast for the office of Mayor at the last preceding Mayor election. Every recall petition shall name the office and officer against whom it is directed.
Each elector signing a recall petition shall add to his or her signature, his or her residence, 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 County Board of Elections. No signature shall be counted as valid which is dated more than 60 days prior to the date the petition is tendered for filing. Upon tender to the County Board of Elections, the petition shall be available for examination by any interested person. Within 15 days after tender of the petition, the County 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 County Board of Elections may be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County.
As soon as the County Board of Elections has accepted a recall petition for filing and determined its validity and sufficiency, the Chairman of the Election 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 office and thereupon the recall proceedings shall terminate.
If the incumbent against whom a recall petition is directed does not resign from office within 10 days after notice of the filing of such petition shall have been given to him or her, the County Board of Elections shall arrange a recall election. If a regular or special election is to be held not less than 30 days nor more than 90 days after the 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 Election Board for a date not earlier than 30 days nor later than 90 days after the 10 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 or she shall remain in office.
Should the results of such election be affirmative, the date of the removal and vacancy in the office shall be 7 days subsequent to the date when the results of election are certified by the County Board of Elections, 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 office after a recall petition directed to him or her has been filed, shall be eligible for election or appointment to any office of the Township within 2 years after his or her removal or resignation.
No recall petition shall be filed against any incumbent of an elective office within the first year or the last 9 months of the term of his or her office or within 9 months after an unsuccessful recall election against him or her, but an officer who has been re-elected for a successive term shall be subject to recall also during the first year of such term.