AN ACT PROVIDING FOR RECALL ELECTIONS IN THE TOWN OF WARREN.
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 an elective office in the town of Warren may be recalled therefrom by the qualified voters of the town as herein provided.
SECTION 2. Any qualified voter of the town may make and file with the town clerk an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the grounds of recall. The town clerk shall thereupon deliver to the voter making such affidavit a sufficient number of copies of petition blanks for such recall. Said blanks shall be issued by the town clerk with his signature and official seal attached thereto and shall be dated and addressed to the board of selectmen. Said blanks shall contain the name of the person to whom issued, the number of blanks so issued, the name of the person sought to be recalled, the office from which recall is sought, 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. Said recall petition shall be returned and filed with the town clerk within 14 days after the filing of the affidavit. Said petition before being returned and filed shall be signed by qualified voters of said town, equal in number to at least 20 per cent of the qualified voters of the town as of the date such affidavit was filed with the town clerk. To every signature shall be added the place of residence of the signer, giving the street and number. Said recall petition shall be submitted, at or before three o'clock in the afternoon of the Monday preceding the day on which it must be filed, to the registrars of voters in said town, and the registrars shall forthwith certify thereon the number of signatures which are the names of voters in said town.
SECTION 3. If the petition shall be found and certified by the town clerk to be sufficient he shall submit the same with his certificate to the board of selectmen without delay, and the board of selectmen shall forthwith give written notice to said officer of the receipt of said certificate and shall, if the officer sought to be recalled does not resign within five days thereafter, thereupon order a recall election to be held on a day fixed by them not less than 65, nor more than 95 days after the date of the town clerk's certificate that a sufficient petition is filed; provided, however, that if any other town election is to occur within 120 days after the date of said certificate, the selectmen, in their discretion, may 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 so ordered, the election shall proceed, nevertheless, as provided in this section.
SECTION 4. Any officer who has been recalled by a vote at the recall election may be a candidate to succeed himself in an election to be held to fill such vacancy. The nomination of all candidates, the publication of the warrant for the recall election and any election to fill a vacancy caused by a recall election, and the conduct of the same, shall all 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 said incumbent is not recalled, he shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall, except as provided in section 7. If not re-elected in the recall election, he shall be deemed recalled upon the qualification of his successor, who shall hold office during the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within five days after receiving notification of his election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed recalled and the office vacant.
SECTION 6. The ballots used in a recall election in said town shall submit the following propositions in the order indicated:
For the recall of (name of 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" and the direction "Vote for One" and beneath this the names of candidates nominated as hereinbefore provided.
If a majority of the votes cast on the recall question is in the affirmative, then the candidate that received the highest number of votes in the special election to fill the vacancy shall be elected. If a majority of the votes on the question is negative, the ballots for candidates to fill the vacancy need not be counted.
SECTION 7. No recall petition shall be filed against an officer of said town 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 that election.
No recall petition shall be filed against an officer of said town if said recall election cannot be held prior to six months from the end of his term of office.
SECTION 8. No person who has been recalled from an office in said town, 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.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect upon its passage.