[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Madison 6-10-1996;
amended in its entirety 6-9-2003. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
Any elected official in the Town of Madison, except a School Board member,
may be recalled and removed from office by the qualified voters of the Town
as herein provided.
A.
Any five or more qualified voters of the Town may commence
recall proceedings by filing with the Town Clerk a single affidavit:
(1)
Stating the name of the five or more qualified voters
who will constitute the Petitioners Committee and be responsible for circulating
the petition and filing it in proper form with the Town Clerk;
(2)
Stating the name and address of each member of the Petitioners
Committee;
(3)
Stating the name and office of the person being petitioned
for recall and setting out, in full, the reasons for the recall; and
(4)
Signed under oath by each member of the Petitioners Committee.
B.
Within five municipal business days after the affidavit
of the Petitioners Committee is filed, the Town Clerk shall issue to the Petitioners
Committee recall petition blanks (the "petition") prepared by the Town.
A.
Each page of the petition shall state the name and office
of the person whose removal is being sought, and the full text of the statement
of the reasons for the recall of the elected official;
B.
All papers of the petition shall be uniform in size and
style and shall be assembled as one instrument for filing. Each signature
shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil, shall
include the signer's printed name, and shall state the legal residence of
the voter with street address or other description sufficient to identify
the place of residence;
C.
The petition for recall must contain only signatures
of the registered voters of the Town of Madison, equal in number to at least
10% of the number of votes cast in the Town in the last gubernatorial election,
but in all cases no less than 75;
D.
Each petition shall have attached to it, when filed with
the Town Clerk, an affidavit(s) executed by the circulator(s) of the petition
stating:
(1)
That the circulator personally circulated the attached
petition (or identified portions thereof);
(2)
That the petition was at no time in the hands of any
person other than the circulator;
(3)
That all signatures were affixed in the circulator's
presence;
(4)
The number of signatures thereon;
(5)
That the circulator believes them to be the genuine signatures
of the persons whose names they purport to be; and
(6)
That each signer had an opportunity before signing to
read the full text of the statement of the reasons for the recall of the elected
official.
E.
If the recall of more than one official is being sought,
there shall be a separate petition for each official whose removal is being
sought; and
F.
A recall petition must be completed and filed with the
Town Clerk within 30 calendar days from the date the petition was issued to
the Petitioners Committee by the Town Clerk.
A.
Within five municipal business days after the petition
is filed with the Town Clerk, the Town Clerk shall examine the petition and
determine whether the petition is signed by the required number of qualified
voters and is otherwise valid, and shall attach thereto the Clerk's certificate
showing the results of such examination. If found to be sufficient, the Town
Clerk shall attach thereto the Clerk's certificate certifying the validity
of the petition, shall submit the petition and the Clerk's certifications
to the Board of Selectmen at the Board's next meeting, and shall notify in
writing the official whose removal is being sought.
B.
If within 30 days from the date the recall petition is
issued to the Petitioners Committee the petition is not filed with the Town
Clerk, does not contain the required number of qualified signatures, or is
otherwise deemed invalid by the Town Clerk, the petition shall have no further
force or effect, and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
A.
Within 10 municipal business days of receipt of the Town
Clerk's certification that a recall petition is valid, the Board of Selectmen
shall schedule a recall election, which election shall be held not less than
45 nor more than 60 calendar days from the date the Board of Selectmen received
the Clerk's certification.
B.
If the official sought to be recalled so requests, the
Board of Selectmen shall schedule a public hearing on the matter, said hearing
to take place not less than seven calendar days prior to the recall election.
The form of the ballot for the recall election shall be as follows:
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"Shall [insert name of person subject to recall] be recalled from
the office of [insert name of office]?"
and shall contain two separate boxes, one for a "Yes" vote
and one for a "No" vote. There shall be a separate question for
each official whose recall is being sought. Under the question(s) there shall
appear the word "CANDIDATES" and the direction "VOTE FOR
[insert number of officials subject of recall election]", and beneath
this the names of candidates nominated, listed alphabetically by last name.
In the event that a municipal official is recalled, the candidate(s) receiving
the greatest number of votes shall be deemed elected.
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Any official whose recall is being sought shall not be a candidate at
the recall election. The nomination of candidates, the publication of the
Warrant for the recall election, and the conduct of the recall election shall
be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the laws of the State of
Maine.
Unless the official whose recall is being sought resigns, the incumbent official shall continue to exercise all of the privileges and duties of the office until the results of the recall election are certified. If not recalled, the official shall continue in office for the remainder of the unexpired term, subject to subsequent recall only as provided in § 120-9 of this chapter. If recalled in the recall election, the official shall be deemed removed from office upon the certification of the recall election results.
No recall petition shall be filed against an elected official within
four months after such official first takes office. In the case of an official
subject to a recall election and not removed thereby, no recall petition shall
be filed against the official until at least six months after the recall election.
The invalidity of any provision of this chapter shall not invalidate
any other provision.
