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. A holder of an elective office in the town of Plympton may be recalled therefrom by the registered voters of said town as herein provided.

SECTION 2. Any twenty-five registered voters of the town may initiate a recall petition by filing with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for such recall. Said town clerk shall, within five days, certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters of the town. The town clerk shall, upon certification, deliver to said voters making the affidavit copies of petition blanks demanding such recall, copies of which printed forms he shall keep available. Such blanks shall be issued by the town clerk, with his signature and official seal attached thereto. Such blank shall be dated, addressed to the selectmen and contain the names of the persons to whom they are issued, the name of the person whose recall is sought, the grounds for such recall as stated in the 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. Such recall petition shall be returned and filed with the town clerk within thirty days after the filing of the affidavit and shall have been signed by at least twenty percent of the registered voters of the town, who shall add to their signatures the street and number, if any, of their residences.

The town clerk shall, within twenty-four hours of receipt of the recall petition, submit such petition to the registrars of voters and said registrars shall, within fourteen days certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters of the town.

SECTION 3. If the petition shall be found and certified by the town clerk to be sufficient, said town clerk shall submit the same with his certificate to the board of selectmen within five working days and the selectmen shall, within five working days, give written notice of the receipt of the certificate to the officer sought to be recalled and shall, if such officer does not resign within five days thereafter, order an election to be held on a date fixed by them 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. No person shall be subject to recall if his term of office expires within ninety days of the certificate. If a vacancy occurs in such office after a recall election has been ordered, such election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this act.

SECTION 4. An officer sought to be removed may be a candidate to succeed himself and, unless the officer requests otherwise in writing, the town clerk shall place his name on the 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 law relating to elections, unless otherwise specifically provided herein.

SECTION 5. The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the recall election.

If then re-elected, he 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 removed upon the qualification of his successor, who shall hold office during the remainder of unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of his election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed removed and the office vacant.

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

For the recall of (name of officer).

Against the recall of (name of officer).

Immediately to the right of each proposition there shall be a square in which the voter, by making an (X) may vote for either of said propositions. Under the propositions shall appear the word "Candidates" and the directions to the voters required by section forty-two of chapter fifty-four of the General Laws and, beneath such directions the names of candidates nominated in accordance with the provisions of law relating to election. 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 cast upon the question are in the negative, the ballots for candidates need not be counted.

SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be filed against an officer 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 such recall election.

SECTION 8. 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 two years after such recall or resignation.