S 2552

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 3046  FILED ON: 7/9/2025
  SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2552
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _________________
  PRESENTED BY:
  Kelly A. Dooner and Norman J. Orrall
  _________________
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 authorizing the town of Berkley to recall elected officials.
  _______________
  PETITION OF:
NAME:  DISTRICT/ADDRESS:
Kelly A. Dooner  Third Bristol and Plymouth
Norman J. Orrall  12th Bristol
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  SENATE DOCKET, NO. 3046  FILED ON: 7/9/2025
  SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2552
By Mrs. Dooner and Mr. Orall of Berkeley, a joint petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No.
2552) of Kelly A. Dooner and Norman J. Orrall (by vote of the town) to authorize the town of
Berkley to recall elected officials. Election Laws. [Local Approval Received.]
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
An Act authorizing the town of Berkley to recall elected officials.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1Section 1. Any holder of elective office in the town of Berkley may be recalled and
2 removed therefrom by qualified voters of the town as herein provided. An initial recall affidavit
3 shall not be filed against an officer within 6 months after the officer takes office or within the last
4 6 months of such officer's term.
5Section 2. Twenty Five (25) registered voters of the town may file with the Town Clerk
6 an affidavit containing the name of the officer sought to be recalled and a statement of the
7 grounds for recall. Once the names that appear on the affidavit are certified by the Board of
8 Registrars of Voters, the Town Clerk shall thereupon deliver to the voter first named on such
9 affidavit a sufficient number of copies of petition blanks demanding such recall. The petition
10 blanks shall be issued by the Town Clerk with the Town Clerk's signature and official seal of the
11 Town attached thereto. They shall be dated and addressed to the Board of Selectmen; shall
12 contain the name of the person to whom they are issued, the number of petition blanks so issued,
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13 the name of the person whose recall is sought, and the grounds for recall as stated in the
14 affidavit; and shall demand the election of a successor to such office. The affidavit shall be kept
15 with the town records in the office of the Town Clerk.
16Section 3. The recall petition shall bear the signatures and residential addresses of at least
17 fifteen percent of registered voters of each precinct eligible to vote in the most recent Town
18 Election. The recall petition shall be returned to the Town Clerk within twenty (20) business
19 days after the Clerk issues the petition. The petitions containing the signatures requesting a recall
20 election need not all be submitted at the same time. A copy of each petition shall be maintained
21 with the records of the subject recall election.
22Section 4. The Town Clerk shall within five business days of receipt submit the petition
23 to the Registrars of Voters in the Town, and the Registrars shall within seven business days
24 certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of registered eligible voters.
25Section 5. If the Town Clerk determines that the certified petitions meet the requirements
26 as described in the previous sections, he/she shall give notice without delay, in writing, by
27 certified mail to the elected officer whose recall is sought by sending to said officer a copy of the
28 affidavit and the recall petition form together with notice of the number of qualified voters
29 certified by the Town Clerk who signed the recall petition forms and the total number of
30 qualified voters in the Town as of the most recent Town election.
31If the officer to whom notice is directed by the Town Clerk does not resign the office
32 within five days following receipt of the aforesaid notice from the Town Clerk, the Town Clerk
33 shall give notice in writing to the Board of Selectmen not later than two (2) business days
34 following the expiration of the foregoing five days. The Board of Selectmen shall order a special
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35 election to be held not more than ninety days after receipt of the notice from the Town Clerk as
36 aforesaid, and not less than sixty-four days from the date of the order. If, however, any Town
37 election is to be held within one-hundred days of receipt by the Board of Selectmen of notice
38 from the Town Clerk, the recall election shall be postponed and shall be held at such time in
39 conjunction with such other election. If a vacancy occurs in the office for any reason after a
40 recall election has been ordered by the Board of Selectmen, the recall election shall nevertheless
41 proceed as provided herein.
42Section 6: An officer whose recall is sought may be a candidate to succeed
43 himself/herself and, unless he/she requests otherwise in writing to the Town Clerk, said Town
44 Clerk shall place his/her name on the official ballot without nomination. The nomination of other
45 candidate(s), publication of the warrant for the recall election and conduct of same shall be in
46 accordance with the provisions of law of the Commonwealth relating to elections, unless
47 otherwise provided in this act.
48Section 7: The incumbent shall continue to perform the duties of the office until the recall
49 election. If then re-elected he/she shall continue in office for the remainder of his/her unexpired
50 term, subject to recall as before, except as provided in section nine. If not re-elected in the recall
51 election, he/she shall be deemed removed upon qualification of his/her successor who shall hold
52 office for the remainder of the unexpired term. If the successor fails to qualify within seven days
53 after receiving notification of his/her election, the incumbent shall thereupon be deemed
54 removed and the office vacant.
55Section 8: Ballots used in a recall election shall submit the following propositions in the
56 order indicated:
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57For the recall of (name of officer)
58Against the recall of (name of officer)
59Immediately at the right of each proposition there shall be a square in which the voter, by
60 making a cross mark (x), may vote either of the said propositions. Under the propositions shall
61 appear the word "Candidates," the directions to voters required by section forty-two of chapter
62 forty-four of the General Laws, and beneath this the names of candidates nominated as
63 hereinbefore provided. If the majority of the votes cast upon the question of recall is in the
64 affirmative, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. If a
65 majority of votes on the question is in the negative, the ballots for candidates shall not be
66 counted."
67Section 9: No person who has been recalled from an office in said town, or who has
68 resigned from office while recall proceedings were pending against him/her, shall be appointed
69 to any town office within two years after such removal by recall or resignation.
70Section 10: This act shall take effect upon its passage.
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