AN ACT PROVIDING FOR RECALL ELECTIONS IN THE TOWN OF WRENTHAM.
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) Any elective officer of the town of Wrentham that has served at least 120 days in office may be recalled from office by the voters as provided in this act. Five per cent of the registered voters of the town as of the last regular town election may file an affidavit with the town clerk containing the name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds for recall. The town clerk shall provide to those voters printed form petition blanks addressed to the board of selectmen demanding the recall. The blanks shall be dated and shall contain the names of all persons to whom they were issued, the name of the person whose recall is being sought and the grounds of recall as stated in the affidavit. The petition shall demand the election of a successor to the office. A copy of the petition shall be entered in a record book to be kept in the office of the town clerk.
(b) The recall petition shall be returned and filed in the office of the clerk within 18 days after the date upon which the clerk issued the petition and shall contain the signatures of at least 20 per cent of the total number of voters duly recorded on the registration list of the clerk as of the most recent town election preceding the filing of the petition.
SECTION 2. The clerk shall, within 7 days following receipt of the recall petition, certify the number of signatures which are names of voters in the town. If the town clerk determines that it contains a sufficient number of valid signatures, the clerk shall immediately submit the petition to the board of selectmen. Upon its receipt of a certified petition, the board of selectmen shall, within 72 hours, give notice of the recall petition and its certification to the officer whose recall is sought. If the officer sought to be recalled does not resign from office within 5 days after receipt of the notice, the board of selectmen shall order a recall election to be held not less than 64 days nor more than 90 days after the date of certification by the town clerk. If another regular town election or special election shall be held within 90 days, then the recall election shall take place on the date of that other regular town election or special election. All procedures for voting upon the recall question and filling the vacancy caused by the recall of an officer shall be in the same manner as provided by general law for the conduct of town elections.
(b) If the officer resigns or a vacancy otherwise occurs in the office after a recall election has been ordered, the election shall proceed as provided in this act, but only the ballots for the new candidates shall be counted.
SECTION 3. Any officer sought to be removed may be a candidate to succeed himself and, unless the officer requests otherwise in writing within 14 days after receiving notice of the recall petition, the town clerk shall place the name of the officer on the ballot without nomination. The nomination of other candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall election and the conduct of the recall election shall be in accordance with all laws relative to elections.
SECTION 4. (a) 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, the word "CANDIDATES" shall appear, followed by the names of all candidates, arranged alphabetically by surname. Adjacent to the name of each candidate shall be a place to mark a vote.
(b) If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the negative, the ballots for the candidates shall not be counted unless the incumbent officer has previously resigned or a vacancy has otherwise occurred pursuant to subsection (b) of section 2.
(c) If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the affirmative, then such officer shall be recalled and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected provided, however, that at least 25 per cent of all those qualified to vote in the town shall have voted.
SECTION 5. If an officer who was the subject of a recall election was not recalled, no subsequent recall election shall be filed against him until the expiration of 6 months after the date of the previous recall election.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved April 10 , 2008