Any holder of an elective office may be recalled, and removed
therefrom by the registered voters of the Town as herein provided.
Any 100 registered voters of the Town may file with the Town
Clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought to be
recalled and a statement of the grounds of recall. Upon certification
the Town Clerk shall deliver to the voters making such affidavit a
sufficient number of copies of petition blanks demanding such recall,
printed forms of which he shall keep on hand. The blanks shall be
issued by the Town Clerk with his signature and Official Seal attached
thereto; they shall be dated and addressed to the Selectmen, shall
contain the name of the persons to whom issued, the number of blanks
so issued, the name of the person sought to be recalled, the grounds
of recall as stated in said affidavit, and shall demand the election
of a successor to such office. A copy of the petition shall be entered
in a record book to be kept in the office of the Town Clerk. The recall
petition shall be returned and filed with the Town Clerk at or before
5:00 p.m. of the twentieth working day after the filing of the affidavit.
Said petition before being returned and filed shall be signed by 20%
of registered voters, and to every signature shall be added the place
of residence of the signer, giving the street and number. The Town
Clerk shall deliver the petition to the registrars of voters in the
Town, and registrars shall forthwith certify thereon the number of
signatures which are names of voters of the Town.
[Amended by Acts of 1984, Ch. 60]
If the petition shall be found and certified by the Town Clerk
and the registrars of voters to be sufficient, the Town Clerk shall
submit it with his certificate to the Selectmen without delay. The
Selectmen shall forthwith give written notice to said officer of the
receipt of said certificate and, if the officer sought to be removed
does not resign within five days, shall order an election to be held
on a day fixed by them not less than 60 nor more than 70 days after
the date of the Town Clerk's certificate that a sufficient petition
is filed. However, if any other Town election is to occur within 60
days after the date of said certificate the Selectmen may, at their
discretion, postpone the holding of the recall election to the date
of such other election. If a vacancy occurs in said office after a
recall election has been so ordered, the election shall nevertheless
proceed as in this section provided.
Any officer sought to be recalled may be a candidate to succeed
himself, and unless he requests otherwise in writing, the Town Clerk
shall place his name on the official ballot without nomination. The
nomination of other candidates, the publication of the warrant for
the recall election, and the conduct of the same shall be in accordance
with the provisions of the law relating to elections, unless otherwise
provided in this Charter.
The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the recall election. If then reelected, he shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in § C8-7. If not reelected in the recall election, he shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of his successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within 15 days after receiving notification of his election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the office vacant.
A.
Ballots used in a recall election shall submit the following propositions
in the order indicated:
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For the removal of (name of officer).
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Against the removal of (name of officer).
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B.
Under the proposition shall appear the word "Candidates" and the
direction "vote for one" and beneath this the names of candidates
nominated as hereinbefore provided. In the event that the recall petition
is passed, the candidate(s) receiving the greatest number of votes
shall be deemed elected.
No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within
three months after he takes office, nor in the case of an office subjected
to a recall election and not removed thereby, until at least six months
after that election.
No person who has been recalled from an office or who has resigned
from office while recall proceedings were pending against him shall
be appointed to any Town office within one year after such removal
by recall or resignation.
