Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Any holder of an elective office in the town of West Brookfield may be recalled therefrom by the qualified voters of said town as herein provided.

SECTION 2. Any ten registered voters of the town of West Brookfield may file an affidavit with the town clerk 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 printed form petition blanks addressed to the selectmen demanding such recall. The blanks shall be issued under the signature and official seal of the town clerk. They shall be dated, and shall contain the names of all persons to whom they are issued, the name of the person whose recall is sought, and the grounds of recall as stated in the affidavit. In addition, the petitions shall demand the election of a successor to the said office. A copy of the petition shall be entered in a record book to be kept in the office of town clerk. The recall petition shall be returned and filed with the town clerk within twenty days after the filing of the affidavit, with signatures, names and street addresses of at least twenty per cent of the registered voters of the town. Within forty-eight hours of receipt, the town clerk shall submit the petition to the registrars of voters in the town, and the registrars shall forthwith certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters of the town. If the petition shall be found and certified by the town clerk to be sufficient, it shall be submitted with his certificate to the selectmen without delay.

SECTION 3. The board of selectmen shall forthwith give written notice of the receipt of the certificate to the officer sought to be recalled. If the officer does not resign within five days thereafter, the board of selectmen shall order a recall election to be held on a date fixed by them not less than sixty nor more than seventy-five 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 scheduled to occur within ninety days after the date of the certificate, the board of selectmen shall 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 ordered, the election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section.

SECTION 4. An officer whose recall is sought may be a candidate to succeed himself in the event the question of recall is voted in the affirmative. The number of signatures of qualified voters required to place the name of a candidate on the official ballot for use at a recall election shall not be less than twenty-five. The publication of the warrant for the recall election and the conduct of the same shall be in accordance with the provisions of law regulating elections, unless otherwise provided in this act.

SECTION 5. The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the recall election. If then re-elected, the officer shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in this act. If not re-elected in the recall election, he shall be deemed recalled upon the qualification of a 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 recalled, the office vacant.

SECTION 6. Ballots used in a recall election shall submit the following propositions in the order indicated: `t+1 For the recall of (name of officer) `t+1 Against the recall of (name of officer) `t+1 Immediately at the right of each proposition there shall be a square in which the voter, by making a cross mark (X), may vote for either of the said propositions. Under the proposition shall appear the word "Candidates", the directions to voters required by section forty-two of chapter forty-four of the General Laws, and beneath this the names of candidates nominated as hereinbefore provided. If the majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the affirmative, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. If a majority of votes on the question is in the negative the ballots for candidates need not be counted.

SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be filed against an officer of said town within six months after he takes office, nor in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and not removed thereby, until at least six months after that election.

SECTION 8. No person who has been recalled from an office in said town, or who has resigned from office while recall proceedings were pending against him, shall be appointed to any town office within two years after such removal by recall or resignation.

SECTION 9. All holders of elective office as of the effective date of this act shall be subject to the provisions set forth herein.