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 elective office in the town of Bourne may be recalled therefrom by the registered voters of said town in the manner provided herein.

SECTION 2. Any four hundred and fifty qualified voters of the town of Bourne may file with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of the elected official sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for such recall. Said town clerk shall, within ten working days, deliver to any one or more of the voters making such affidavit a sufficient number of petition blanks or copies thereof demanding such recall. Such blanks shall be issued by the town clerk with his signature and official seal attached thereto. Such petition blanks shall be dated and addressed to the board of selectmen of said town, shall contain the name of the person to whom they are issued, the number of blanks so issued, the name of the official sought to be recalled, the office from which such recall is sought and, the grounds of recall as stated in said 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 forty-five calendar days after its issuance.

A recall petition, before being returned and filed with the town clerk, shall have been signed by no less than twenty percent of the qualified voters as of the most recent town election and to every signature shall be added the place of residence of the signer, giving the street and number, if any.

The town clerk shall, within five working days following the day of such filing, submit the petition to the registrars of voters and the registrars shall forthwith certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters as of the date of the most recent town election.

SECTION 3. If the recall petition shall be found and certified by the town clerk to be sufficient, said clerk shall submit such petition with the clerk's certification to the board of selectmen without delay. Said board of selectmen shall forthwith give written notice of the receipt of the certificate to the official sought to be recalled. If the official sought to be recalled does not resign within five calendar days after receipt of such written notice, said board of selectmen shall order a recall 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; provided, however, that if any other town election is scheduled to be held within one hundred and twenty days after the date of the certificate, said board of selectmen may, at its discretion, postpone the holding of the recall election to the date of such other town election. If a vacancy occurs in such office after a recall election has been ordered by said board of selectmen the election shall nevertheless proceed as provided in this section.

SECTION 4. Any officer whose recall is sought may be a candidate to succeed himself and, unless he 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 General Laws related to town elections unless otherwise provided by this act.

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

If the elected official is recalled, he shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of his successor, who shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term of the officer removed. If the successor fails to qualify within five working days after receiving notification of his election, the incumbent shall thereupon be removed and the office vacant.

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

`tcol(*)=2,T;c1=5,40,tf;c2=50,10,tu `tc1 * For the recall of (name of officer)* * Against the recall of (name of officer)* `tcol;end

To the right of each proposition there shall be a place to vote for either of such propositions. Under the propositions shall appear the word "Candidates", the directions to voters required by section forty-two of chapter fifty-four of the General Laws, and beneath the word "Candidates" shall be the names of the candidates nominated as hereinbefore provided. If the elected official who is the subject of the recall petition is a candidate, such official's name shall be the first to appear and all others shall follow in alphabetical order.

If the majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the affirmative, the official shall be deemed to be recalled and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. If a majority of the votes on the questions of recall is in the negative, the ballots for candidates need not be counted.

SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be accepted by the town clerk for filing against an elected official within six months after he takes office, nor in the case of an elected official 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 an office while recall proceedings were pending against him shall be elected or appointed to a town office within one year after such recall or resignation.

SECTION 9. This act shall be submitted to the voters of the town of Bourne at the town election to be held in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-four in the form of the following question, which shall be placed upon the official ballot to be used for the election of town officers at said election: "Shall an act passed by the general court in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-three, entitled, 'An Act providing for recall elections in the town of Bourne', be accepted " If a majority of the votes cast in answer to said question is in the affirmative then this act shall take full effect, but not otherwise.

SECTION 10. This act shall take effect upon its passage.