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. Chapter 5 of the charter of the town of Plymouth, which is on file in the office of the archivist of the commonwealth, as provided in section twelve of chapter forty-three B of the General Laws, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following two sections:-

Section 7 Recall of elective officeholders

5-7-1 Any elected officeholder may be recalled by the voters as herein provided.

5-7-2 Five hundred registered voters of the town may file with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officeholder sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for recall, provided, however, that not more than fifty names shall be from any one precinct of the town.

5-7-3 The town clerk shall thereupon deliver to the ten voters first named on such affidavit a sufficient number of copies of petition blanks demanding such recall, printed forms which shall be kept available. The blanks when issued shall be signed by the town clerk and shall have the official seal attached thereto. They shall be dated and addressed to the board of selectmen, and shall contain the names of the ten persons to whom they are issued, the number of petitions to be issued, the name of the officeholder whose recall is sought, the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit, and shall demand the election of a successor to such office.

5-7-4 A copy of the petition shall be entered in the town meeting records. The recall petition shall bear the signatures and residential addresses of at least fifteen percent of the registered voters, and shall be returned to the town clerk within twenty working days after the filing of the affidavit. The petitions containing the signatures requesting a recall election need not all be submitted at the same time.

5-7-5 The town clerk shall within one working day of receipt submit the petition to the registrars of voters in the town, and the registrars shall within seven working days certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters.

5-7-6 If the petition shall be found and certified by the registrars of voters to be sufficient, the town clerk shall submit the same with a certificate so stating to the board of selectmen. The board of selectmen shall, within three working days, give written notice by registered mail of the receipt of the certificate to the officeholder sought to be recalled.

5-7-7 If the officeholder does not resign within five days thereafter, the board of selectmen shall order a special election to be held on a date fixed by them, which shall be not less than sixty nor 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 elections is to occur within one hundred days after the date of the certificate, the board of selectmen shall postpone the holding of the special election to the date of such other election.

5-7-8 Any officeholder sought to be removed may not be a candidate to succeed to the same office in the recall election. The nomination of candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall election, and the conduct of the same, shall all be in accordance with the provisions of general law relating to elections, and the election to replace the officeholder sought to be removed shall be held on the same day as the recall election.

5-7-9 The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of office until the recall election. If not recalled, the incumbent shall continue in office for the remainder of the unexpired term. An incumbent having successfully survived a recall election shall not again be subject to recall during the same term of office. If recalled, the incumbent 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.

5-7-10 The form of the question to be voted upon shall be substantially as follows: "Shall {here insert the name and title of the elective officeholder whose recall is sought} be recalled " The action of the voters to recall shall require a majority vote, but shall not be effective unless the total of those voting for and against recall shall exceed twenty percent of the registered voters of the town.

5-7-11 No person, having been removed from office by recall or having resigned from office while recall proceedings were pending, shall be appointed to any town office within two years following said removal or resignation.

5-7-12 Recall proceedings shall not be initiated during the first or last one hundred and eighty days of any officeholder's term of office.

Section 8 Recall of Precinct Members

5-8-1 Representative town meeting members shall be subject to recall as generally provided in section seven, provided:

(a) that the words "representative town meeting member" shall be substituted for the word "officeholder" throughout section seven;

(b) that in clause 5-7-2 the number "one hundred and twenty-five" shall be substituted for the number "five hundred," and that the names submitted shall all be those of registered voters residing in the precinct of the intended recall election;

(c) that in clause 5-7-4, the petition shall include the signatures and residential addresses of at least fifteen percent of the registered voters residing in the precinct, and that the words "ten working days" shall be substituted for the words "twenty working days";

(d) that in clause 5-7-7 the words "special precinct election" shall be substituted for the words "special election";

(e) that in clause 5-7-10 the words "of the precinct" shall be substituted for the words "of the town";

(f) that any vacancy created by a recall election shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of Chapter 2 of this charter.

SECTION 2. This act shall be submitted for acceptance to the voters of the town of Plymouth at a special or annual town election in the form of the following question, which shall be placed upon an official ballot to be used at said election:- "Shall an act passed by the General Court in the year nineteen hundred and ninety entitled 'An act providing for recall elections in the town of Plymouth' be accepted ". If a majority of votes in answer to said question is in the affirmative, then this act shall thereupon take full effect, but not otherwise.