HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2290        FILED ON: 2/17/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 826

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Smitty Pignatelli and Adam G. Hinds

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act establishing recall elections in the town of Otis.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2290        FILED ON: 2/17/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 826

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 4065 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act establishing recall elections in the town of Otis.

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 holder of elective office in the Town of Otis may be recalled by the registered voters of Otis as herein provided.

SECTION 2. Any one hundred (100) registered voters of the Town 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 the recall.  The Town Clerk shall thereupon deliver to said voters a sufficient number of copies of printed form petition blanks addressed to the Selectmen demanding such recall.  The blanks shall be issued under the signature and official seal of the Town Clerk. They shall be dated and shall contain the names of all persons to whom they are issued.  The name of the person whose recall is sought, and the grounds for the recall as stated in the affidavit. In addition, the petitions shall demand the election of a successor to said office.  A copy of the petition shall be entered in the record book to be kept in the office of the Town Clerk.  The recall petition shall be returned and filed with the Town Clerk on or before the first (1st) work day following twenty (20) days after the filing of the affidavit. Said petition, before being returned and filed with the Town Clerk shall be signed by a least thirty (30%) percent of the registered voters of the town, who shall add to their signatures the street and number, if any, of their residences.  Within twenty- four (24) hours of receipt of the petition the Town Clerk shall submit the petition to the registrars of voters in the town and the registrars shall within fourteen (14) days certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered voters of the Town. If their certification shows the petition to be insufficient, the Town Clerk shall return the petition to the voters seeking the recall, without prejudice, however, to the filing of a new affidavit for the same purpose.

SECTION 3. If the petition shall be found and certified by the Town Clerk, to be  sufficient, he shall submit the same with this certification to the Board of  Selectmen within seven (7) days and the Board shall within seven days give written notice of the receipt of the certificate to the officer sought to be    recalled, and shall, if the officer does not resign within seven (7) days thereafter, order an election to be held on a date to be fixed by them not less  than sixty (60) nor more than ninety (90) days after the date of the Town Clerk's certification that a sufficient petition has been filed, provided, however, that if any other town election is scheduled to occur within one-hundred (100) days of  said certificate, the Board of Selectmen may, in its discretion, postpone the holding of the recall election to the date of such other election. If a vacancy occurs in said office after a recall election has been ordered, the elections   shall nevertheless proceed as provided herein.

SECTION 4. Any officer sought to be recalled may be a candidate to succeed himself and, unless he specifically request otherwise in writing, the Town Clerk shall place his name on the official ballot without nomination.  The nomination of other candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall election, and the conduct of same shall be in accordance with the provisions of law relating to elections unless otherwise provided in this act.

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 the office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in section 7.  If not re-elected in the recall election, he shall be deemed removed from office upon the qualification of his successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired term.  If the successor fails to qualify within seven  (7) days after receiving written certified notification of his election, the  incumbent shall thereupon be deemed recalled and the office vacant.

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

                For the recall of (Name Officer)

                Against the recall of (Name of Officer)

Immediately at the right of each proposition there shall be a square in which the voter, by making a cross mark (X), may vote for either of such propositions.  Under the proposition shall appear the word "candidates", the direction to voters required by MGL Chapter 54, Section 42, and beneath this the names of candidates nominated as herein before provided.

If a two-thirds majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the affirmative, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be deemed elected.  If a majority of votes on the question is in the negative, the ballot for the candidates need not be counted.

SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be filed against an officer of the Town within six (6) months after he takes office, nor in the case of an officer subjected to a recall election and not recalled thereby, until at least twelve (12) months after that 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 one (1) year after such recall or such resignation.