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 Braintree, with more than six months remaining in the term of such office on the date of the filing of a recall affidavit, may be recalled therefrom as provided herein.

SECTION 2. Two hundred and fifty or more qualified voters of the town of Braintree may file with the clerk of said town, an affidavit containing the name of the officer whose recall is being sought, along with a statement of the grounds of such recall. Said clerk shall provide to the voters petition blanks demanding such recall printed forms of which shall be kept available by said clerk. Such petition blanks shall be completed either by writing or typewriting, shall be addressed to the board of selectmen and shall contain the names of the voters who filed the affidavit and the grounds for such recall as stated in such affidavit. Such petition blanks shall demand the election of a successor to such office and shall be dated and signed by said clerk with the official seal attached thereto. A copy of such petition shall be kept on file in the office of said clerk in a record book maintained for such purpose.

The recall petitions shall be returned and filed in the office of the clerk within twenty days following the date upon which said clerk issued such petitions and shall contain the signatures of at least ten percent of the total number of voters duly recorded on the registration list of said clerk as of the most recent preceding town election, not less than five percent of which shall be from each precinct, who shall add to their signatures, the street and number, if any, of their residences.

The clerk shall, within forty-eight hours following such filing, submit such petitions to the registrars of voters who shall, within five working days, certify thereon the number of signatures which in fact are names of registered voters of said town.

SECTION 3. If the recall petitions shall be certified by the registrars of voters to contain the sufficient number of voter signatures, the clerk of the town of Braintree shall forthwith submit such petitions to the board of selectmen of said town. Upon its receipt of the certified petitions, said board of selectmen shall, within forty-eight hours, give written notice of such recall petitions and the certification thereof to the person whose recall is being sought.

If the officer sought to be recalled does not resign his office within five days following the delivery of such notice, the board of selectmen shall order an election to be held not less than sixty-five nor more than ninety days after the date of the certification of the sufficiency of the petition by the registrars of voters; provided, however, that if another town election is scheduled to occur within one hundred days after the date of such certification, said board of selectmen shall postpone the holding of such recall election until the date of such 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; provided, however, that only the ballots for new candidates shall be counted.

SECTION 4. No officer whose recall is being sought shall be a candidate to succeed himself at the recall election. The nomination of candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall election and the conduct of such election shall be in accordance with the provisions of law relative to elections, unless otherwise provided herein.

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

If the incumbent officer is recalled, he shall be deemed removed upon the qualification of a successor who shall hold office for the remainder of the unexpired term; provided, however, that if the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of election, the incumbent nevertheless shall thereupon be deemed removed and such office shall remain vacant for the remainder of the unexpired term.

SECTION 6. All ballots used at a recall election shall contain the following propositions in the following order:

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 all 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 cast upon the question of recall is in the negative, the ballots for the candidates need not be counted unless the incumbent officer has previously resigned from office pursuant to section three.

SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be filed against an officer within six months of the assumption of his office. In the case of an officer who has been subjected to a recall election and was not thereby recalled, no subsequent recall petition shall be filed against such officer until at least six months after the date of the election at which such initial recall was voted upon.

SECTION 8. No person who has been recalled from an office or who has resigned from an office while recall proceedings were pending shall be appointed to any town office within twelve months after such recall or resignation.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect upon its passage.