Any office holder of an elected office in the town may be recalled
therefrom by the voters of the town as herein provided.
[Amended 1-13-2021 by
Chapter 344, Acts of 2020]
Any one hundred voters of the town may initiate a recall petition
by filing with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of
the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for
recall.
The town clerk shall thereupon deliver to said voters copies
of petition blanks demanding such recall, copies of which printed
forms the town clerk shall keep available. Such blanks shall be addressed
to the select board and shall contain the names of all persons to
whom they are issued, the number of blanks so issued, the name of
the person whose recall is sought, the office from which the removal
is sought, the grounds of recall as stated in the affidavit, and shall
demand the election of a successor in said office. A copy of the petition
shall be entered in a record book to be kept in the office of the
town clerk.
Said recall petition shall be returned and filed with the town
clerk within twenty days after the filing of the affidavit, and shall
have been signed by at least twenty-five percent of the registered
voters of the town as of the date of the most recent preceding annual
town election, who shall add to their signature the street and number,
if any, of their residence.
[Amended 1-13-2021 by
Chapter 344, Acts of 2020]
If the petition shall be found and certified by the town clerk
to be sufficient, the town clerk shall submit the same with such certificate
to the select board within five working days and the select board
shall, within five working days, give written notice of the receipt
of the certificate to the officer sought to be recalled and shall,
if the officer does not resign within five days thereafter, order
an election to be held on a date fixed by them not less than sixty
and not more than ninety 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 one hundred 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.
No person shall be subject to recall if the term of office of
such person expires within ninety days of the certificate. If a vacancy
occurs in said office after a recall election has been ordered, the
election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section.
Any officer sought to be removed may be a candidate to succeed
to the same office and unless the officer requests otherwise in writing,
the town clerk shall place the name of the officer on the ballot without
nomination. The nomination of other candidates, the publication of
the warrant for the removal election, and the conduct of the same,
shall all be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to
elections unless otherwise provided in the section.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of the office
until the recall election. If said incumbent is not removed the incumbent
shall continue in office for the remainder of the unexpired term subject
to recall as before. If not reelected in the recall election, the
officer shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of the successor
who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor
fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of
election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the
office vacant.
[Amended 1-10-2013 by
Chapter 457, Acts of 2012]
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)
Immediately at the right of each proposition there shall be
an area in which the voter, by making a mark in accordance with the
instructions on the ballot may vote for either of the said propositions.
Under the propositions shall appear the word "Candidates," the directions
to the voters required by section forty two of chapter 54 of the General
Laws, and beneath this the names of the candidates nominated in accordance
with the provisions of law relating to elections. If two-thirds of
the votes cast upon the question of recall are in the affirmative,
the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared
elected. If more than one-third of the votes on the question are in
the negative the ballots for candidates need not be counted.
No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within
ninety days after taking office, nor, in the case of an officer subjected
to a recall election and not recalled thereby, until at least ninety
days after the election at which the officer's recall was submitted
to the town.
No person who has been recalled from an office or who has resigned
from an office while recall proceedings were pending against such
person shall be appointed to any town office within one year after
such recall or such resignation.
