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 person who holds an elected office in the Town of North Attleborough, excluding RTM members, with more than six months remaining in the term of such office on the date of filing of the affidavit, referred to in section B, may be recalled from office by the Registered Voters in said town, in the manner herein provided.

SECTION 2. Twenty-five or more voters from each precinct in the Town of North Attleborough may file with the Election Commissioners of said town an affidavit containing the name of the office whose recall is sought and a statement of the grounds upon which the petition is based. The Election Commission shall deliver to the said voters petition blanks demanding said recall, printed forms of which the Election Commissioners shall keep available. Said blanks may be completed by writing or typewriting; they shall be addressed to the Board of Selectmen; they shall contain the names of the persons who filed the affidavit, the name of the person sought to be recalled, and the office from which the recall is sought and the grounds for recall as stated in the affidavit; they shall demand the election of a successor to the office; and they shall be dated and contain the signatures of the Election Commissioners. A copy of the petition shall be kept on file in the office of the Election Commissioners in a record book maintained for that purpose. The recall petitions shall be returned and filed in the office of the Election Commissioners within fourteen days following the date the petitions were issued. The petitions shall be signed by at least ten percent of the total number of registered voters duly recorded on the registration list of the Election Commissioners as of the preceding town meeting. Said total shall consist of at least 100 voters from each precinct.

SECTION 3. If the petition shall be certified by the Election Commissioners to be sufficient, they shall forthwith submit the same to the Board of Selectmen. Upon its receipt of the certified petition, the Board of Selectmen shall within forty-eight hours give written notice of said petition and certificate to the person whose recall is sought. If said officer does not resign his/her office within five days following delivery of said notice, the Board of Selectmen shall order an election to be held not less than sixty nor more than seventy days after the date of the registrars' certificate of the sufficiency of the petition. If, however, another town election is to occur within ninety days after the date of the certificate, the Board of Selectmen shall hold the recall election on the date of said other town election. If a vacancy occurs in the office after a recall election has been ordered, the election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section, but only the ballots for candidates need be counted.

SECTION 4. An officer whose recall is sought may be a candidate to succeed himself/herself at 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 provision of laws relating to elections, unless otherwise provided in this act.

SECTION 5. The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his/her office until the recall election. If he/she is not recalled in the election he/she shall continue in office for the remainder of his/her unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided herein.

If the officer is recalled in the election, he/she shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of his/her successor who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of his/her election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed moved and the office vacant.

SECTION 6. Ballots used at a recall election shall contain the following propositions in the order indicated:-

For the recall of (name of officer)

Against the recall of (name of officer)

Adjacent to each proposition, there shall be a place to mark a vote. After the propositions shall appear the word "Candidates" followed by the names of candidates arranged alphabetically, by surname. If a 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 the votes on the question is in the negative, the ballots for the candidates need not be counted, except as provided in section C above.

SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within three months after he/she takes office, or in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and not recalled thereby until at least six months after the election at which his/her recall was submitted to the voters.