(a)
Nomination and election of federal and state officers,
including registrars of voters, the town clerk, and of such elective
municipal officers, boards and commissions as are provided for in
this chapter shall be conducted, and the registrars of voters shall
prepare lists of electors qualified to vote therefor, in the manner
prescribed in the constitution and general laws of the State of Connecticut,
except as hereinafter provided.
(b)
The town election shall take place on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November, 1971, and biennially thereafter.
[Amended 11-3-1998]
At each town election there shall be chosen
nine members of the town council hereinafter referred to as the council.
At the election to be held in 1997 and quadrennially thereafter, four
members shall be elected to the board of education, and at the election
held in 1999 and quadrennially thereafter, three members shall be
elected to the board of education. The two registrars of voters and
the justices of the peace shall be elected on the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November 1972 and biennially thereafter. The town
clerk shall be elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November 1971 and quadrennially thereafter. The registrars of voters
shall be elected for the town in the manner prescribed by the general
statutes. All elective offices of the town shall be elected at large.
In addition to the procedure for the nomination
of candidates for the board of education provided by the general statutes,
any elector of the town may be nominated for the board of education
and be entitled to have his or her name appear on the voting machines
in a line designated "Independent," provided he or she shall file
with the town clerk, not less than sixty days preceding the election,
an individual petition signed by electors of the town in number equal
to not less than five percent of the total number of electors in the
town as determined by the last completed registry list, and provided
the town clerk, after examining such petition, shall certify that
the petition contains the required number of valid signatures. The
examination by the town clerk shall be made within seven days after
the filing of the petition. No elector shall be permitted to sign
petitions on behalf of more candidates for any office than the number
for whom he or she will be entitled to vote. If any elector signs
more than the authorized number of petitions, his or her signatures
shall be counted only on such petitions as are first filed, up to
such authorized number. If the town clerk finds any petition filed
under the provisions of this section to be insufficient, he or she
shall immediately notify the candidate of such fact. After the town
clerk has found any petition to be insufficient, no further proceedings
shall be had thereon except by order of a judge of a court of competent
jurisdiction to whom an appeal may be taken from the decision of the
town clerk.
Terms of all elective officers, except the registrars
of voters and the town clerk, shall commence on the second Tuesday
after election and, except for the board of education and the town
clerk, shall be for two years. Board of education members and the
town clerk shall be elected for four-year terms. The registrars of
voters and the town clerk shall take office on the first Monday of
January next succeeding their election. In no case shall the term
of any elective officer expire before the election and qualification
of his or her successor.
At the elections as hereinbefore provided no
political party shall nominate and no elector shall vote for more
than six members of the council, and one registrar of voters. In the
election of 1997, and quadrennially thereafter, no political party
shall nominate and no elector shall vote for more than three members
of the board of education, and in the election of 1999, and quadrennially
thereafter no political party shall nominate and no elector shall
vote for more than three members of the board of education.
Voting districts shall continue as they existed
on the effective date of this charter, but the number of such districts
may be increased or diminished and their boundaries altered by an
ordinance approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon at
a regular biennial town election.
Any vacancy in any elective town office, except
the board of education, from whatever cause arising, shall be filled
by appointment by the town council for the unexpired portion of the
term or until the next biennial election, whichever shall be sooner;
provided that when the person vacating the office shall have been
elected as a member of a political party, such vacancy shall be filled
by the appointment of a member of the same political party, upon nomination
by a council member of the same political party, if any. Any vacancy
on the board of education shall be filled within ninety days from
its occurrence by appointment by the board of education for the unexpired
portion of the term or until the next biennial election, whichever
shall be sooner; provided that when the person vacating the office
shall have been elected as a member of a political party, such vacancy
shall be filled by the appointment of a member of the same political
party upon nomination by a board of education member of the same political
party, if any. Upon the failure of the board of education to fill
said vacancy, it shall be filled by appointment by the council in
the same manner as hereinabove set forth. If there shall be a biennial
town election before the expiration of the term of any office in which
a vacancy occurs, such office shall be filled until said election
by appointment as provided herein, and subsequently by the election
of a person to fill that office for the remaining portion of the term,
and such person shall take office upon election.
No person shall be eligible for election to
any town office who is not at the time of his or her election a resident
elector of the town, and any person ceasing to be a resident and elector
of the town shall thereupon cease to hold elective office in the town.
The town clerk shall have all powers and duties
conferred or imposed by law on town clerks and shall have such other
powers and duties as are prescribed in this charter or by the council.
He or she shall appoint and remove, subject to such rules and regulations
as may be adopted pursuant to the merit provisions of Chapter VIII
of this charter all deputies, assistants or employees in his or her
office. He or she shall receive compensation fixed by the council,
and all fees collected by him or her shall be paid into the town treasury.
