Any person, who holds an elected town office, with more than six months remaining of the term of office, may be recalled from office by the voters in the manner provided in this section.
200 or more registered votes (in the Town) may file with the Town Clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer whose recall is sought and a statement of the grounds upon which the petition is based. The Town Clerk shall deliver to the said voters petition blanks demanding said recall, printed forms of which he/she shall keep available. The blanks may be completed by writing or typewriting; they shall be addressed to the Board of Selectmen; they shall contain the names and addresses of the persons who file the affidavit and the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit; they shall demand the election of a successor to the office, and they shall be dated and signed by the Town Clerk, in a record book maintained for that purpose. The recall petitions shall be returned and filed in the office of the Town Clerk within twenty days following the date the petitions were issued, signed by at least 15% of the total registered voters of the Town in each precinct, who shall add to their signatures at their address and precinct number.
The Town Clerk shall, within twenty-four hours following such filing, submit said petitions to the registrars of voters who shall within five working days certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of voters.
If the petition shall be certified by the registrars of voters to be sufficient, the Town Clerk shall forthwith submit the same to the Board of Selectmen. Upon its receipt of the certified petition, the Board of Selectmen shall forthwith give written notice of said petition and certificate to the person whose recall is sought. If said officer does not resign his office within five days following delivery of the said notice, the Board of Selectmen shall order an election to be held not less than thirty-five nor more than sixty days after the date of the registrars' certificate of the sufficiency of the petition. If, however, another town election is to occur within sixty days after the date of said certificate, the Board of Selectmen shall hold the recall election on the date of other town election. If a vacancy occurs in the office after a recall election has been ordered, the election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section, but only the ballots for Candidates need to be counted.
An officer whose recall is sought may not be a candidate to succeed himself at 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 other laws relating to elections, unless otherwise provided in this section.
Ballots used at a recall election shall state the following propositions in the order indicated:
For the recall (name of officer)
Against the recall (name of officer).
Adjacent to each proposition, there shall be a place to vote for either of the said propositions. After the propositions shall appear the word "Candidates" and the names of candidates arranged alphabetically, by surname. If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the affirmative, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. if[??] a majority of the votes on the question is in the negative, the ballots for candidates need NOT be counted, except as provided in Section 3 above.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his/her office until the recall election. If he/she is not recalled in the election, he/she shall continue in office for the remainder of his/her unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in the section.
If the officer is recalled in the election, he/she shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of his/her successor who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of his/her election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the office vacant.
No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within six months after he/she takes office, or in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and not recalled thereby until at least nine months after the election at which his/her recall was submitted to the voters.
This Act shall be submitted for acceptance to the voters of the Town of Carver at the Annual Town Election in 1992. If the majority of the votes is in the affirmative the provisions of this Act shall become effective immediately.