The regular election for all town offices shall be by official
ballot held on a date established by by-law.
All town elections shall be nonpartisan and election ballots
shall be printed without any party mark or designation.
Any voter shall be eligible for election to any elective office
or multimember body of the town; provided, however, that no person
shall hold concurrently more than 1 paid elective office of the town.
Any person duly elected to any office or multimember body shall
forthwith be sworn and assume the duties of the office.
(a)
100 voters may file with the town clerk an affidavit containing the
name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds
for recall, which shall include but not be limited to neglect of duties,
corruption or malfeasance. The town clerk shall thereupon make available
to the voter first named on such affidavit a sufficient number of
copies of petition forms demanding such recall. Blank forms shall
be kept available. The town clerk shall issue the blank forms with
the town clerk's signature and official seal attached thereto.
The forms shall: (i) be dated and addressed to the select board; (ii)
contain the name of the person to whom they are issued, the number
of petition forms issued, the name of the person whose recall is sought
and the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit; and (iii) demand
the election of a successor to the office held by the officer whose
recall is requested.
(b)
A copy of the petition shall be entered in the town records. The
recall petition shall bear the signatures and residential addresses
of voters sufficient to equal at time of filing at least 15 per cent
of the registered voters of the town as of the date of the last election.
The recall petition shall be returned to the town clerk within 20
working days after notice of the availability of the petitions. The
petitions containing the signatures requesting a recall election need
not all be submitted at the same time.
(c)
The town clerk shall, within 1 working day of receipt, submit the
petition to the registrar of voters who shall, within 7 working days,
certify thereon the number of signatures that are those of voters.
(d)
If the petition shall be found and certified by the registrar of
voters to be sufficient, the same shall be submitted with the town
clerk's certificate to the select board. The select board shall,
within 3 working days, give written notice of the receipt of the certificate
by registered mail to the officer sought to be recalled. If the officer
does not resign within 5 days thereafter, the select board shall order
a recall election to be held on a date fixed by them. The date of
the election shall be not less than 64 days nor more than 90 days
from the date the select board orders the recall election. However,
if any other town election is to occur within 90 days after the date
of the certificate, the select board shall postpone the holding of
the recall election to the date of such other election.
Any officer sought to be removed may not be a candidate to succeed
to the office 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 General Laws relating
to elections. The election to replace the officer sought to be removed
shall be held on the same day as the recall election.
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 during the same term of office. If recalled, the incumbent
shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of the successor who
shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails
to be qualified within 10 days after receiving notification of election,
the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the office vacant.
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 plurality, but shall not be effective unless
the total of those voting for and against recall shall exceed 30 per
cent of the voters.
No person, having been removed from office by recall or having
resigned from office while proceedings were pending, shall be appointed
to any town office within 2 years following said removal or resignation.
