The text
Sec. 201. - Election Laws and Conduct of Elections.#
The provisions of the Constitution and the General Laws of the State, now or hereafter in effect, pertaining to elections, special, general, and primary, and also any special acts pertaining to elections in the Town of Exeter, now or hereafter in effect, shall govern all Town elections, special, general and primary, so far as they may be applicable, excepting those provisions which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter affecting the form of government.
Sec. 202. - Canvassing Authority.#
There shall be a multipartisan canvassing authority, to be called the Board of Canvassers, whose members shall be appointed by the Town Council as provided by the Constitution and Laws of the State. The Board of Canvassers shall be vested with all the powers and duties now or hereafter vested by law in the canvassing authority of the Town. All members of the Board of Canvassers in office upon the effective date of this Charter [January 6, 1997] shall continue in office as members thereof until the expiration of the terms for which they were respectively appointed.
Sec. 203. - Initiative, Referendum, and Recall.#
(a)
[Rights of electors.] The electors of the Town shall have the right to petition to initiate and repeal ordinances, and to propose the recall of an elected office holder, in the following manner:
(1)
Initiative. The electors of the Town may propose ordinances to the Council and, if the Council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed without any change in substance, to adopt it at a special or general election; provided, however, that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program or to any ordinance relating to the appropriation of money, levy of taxes, zoning or salaries of Town officials or employees.
(2)
Referendum. The electors of the Town shall have power to require reconsideration by the Council of any adopted ordinance and, if the Council fails to repeal an ordinance so reconsidered, to repeal it at a special or general election; provided, however, that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program, to any emergency ordinance or to any ordinance relating to appropriation of money, levy of taxes, zoning or salaries of Town officials or employees.
(3)
Recall. The electors of the Town shall have the power to propose the recall of any elected Town office holder for violations of the following sections of this Charter: Section 407, Forfeiture of Office, Section 903, Ethics, Section 908, Suspension and Disqualification from Office, and Section 910, Forfeiture of Office for Violation of Charter, and to cause a referendum to be held on the question of whether or not the named office holder shall be recalled and removed from office.
(b)
Commencement of proceedings. Any five (5) qualified electors of the Town may commence initiative, referendum or recall proceedings by filing with the Town Clerk an affidavit stating that they will constitute the petitioners' committee and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper form. The affidavit shall state the names and addresses of said electors, specify the address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent, and set out in full the proposed initiative ordinance or cite the ordinance sought to be reconsidered, or name the office and office holder to be recalled. Promptly, but not more than five (5) business days after the affidavit of the petitioners' committee is filed, the Town Clerk shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to [the] petitioners' committee and make record of the date of delivery of said petitions.
(c)
Signing and filing of petitions and Council action on them.
(1)
Initiative, referendum and recall petitions to the Council must be signed by twenty percent (20%) of the total number of electors registered at the most recent Town general election. Initiative, referendum and recall petitions must also include the names and addresses of the five (5) petitioners and must state the petitioners' reasons for having brought the petition. The Board of Canvassers shall promptly determine the sufficiency of valid signatures on any such petition, and shall certify such petition to the Town Clerk when such a determination has been made.
A petitioner must document a violation of Sections 407, 903, 908, or 910 of the Charter in the recall petition.
(2)
When an initiative or referendum petition has been certified as sufficient, the Council shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance or reconsider the referred ordinance, in either case in the same manner as provided for adoption of an ordinance proposed by a member of the Council. If the Council fails to adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance, or fails to repeal the referred ordinance, as the case may be, within sixty (60) days after the date the petition is certified, the Council shall submit the proposal or referred ordinance to the voters of the Town.
(3)
When a recall petition has been certified as sufficient, the Council shall submit the question of the recall of the named office holder to the voters of the Town.
(d)
Submission to voters. The vote of the Town on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held at the next regular or at a special election, but in any event, not earlier than sixty (60) days and not later than one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of certification of the petition by the Board of Canvassers. The proposed or referred ordinance shall be published by the Town Clerk not less than twenty (20) days prior to the election. The vote of the Town on a proposed recall question shall be at a special election scheduled not earlier than twenty (20) days nor later than sixty (60) days from the date of certification of the petition by the Board of Canvassers. Notice of any such recall election shall be published by the Town Clerk at least three times on separate days with no less than a three day interval between publications.
(e)
Submission and withdrawal of petitions.
(1)
No petition for recall of an elected office holder shall be accepted by the Town Clerk or may be circulated less than one hundred eighty (180) days following the date on which said office holder was sworn in to his or her office; nor shall any such petition by accepted or circulated less than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the expiration of the term of said office holder.
(2)
If an initiative, referendum or recall petition bearing the signatures of at least twenty percent (20%) of the total number of the electors has not been submitted to the Town Clerk within seventy-five (75) days after the issuance of the petition blanks, then the initiative, referendum or recall petition shall be considered as withdrawn and shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
(3)
An initiative, referendum or recall petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the fifteenth (15th) day preceding the day scheduled for a vote of the Town by filing with the Town Clerk a request for withdrawal signed by at least four (4) members of the petitioners' committee. Upon the filing of such request the petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
(f)
Results of vote on initiative, referendum or recall questions.
(1)
Initiative. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a proposed initiative ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be considered adopted upon certification of the election results, and it shall be treated in all respects in the same manner as ordinances of the same kind adopted by the Council, provided, however, that any ordinance enacted pursuant to subsection (c)(2) or (f)(1) of this section may not be repealed or amended as to substance less than one (1) year following its adoption. If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.
(2)
Referendum. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a referred ordinance vote against it, it shall be considered repealed upon certification of the election results. No referred ordinance repealed pursuant to subsection (c)(2) or (f)(2) of this section shall be reenacted by the Council less than one (1) year following its repeal.
(3)
Recall. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a question for the recall of an office holder vote in favor of such recall, the office holder shall be considered to have vacated his or her office upon certification of the election results. The resulting vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in this Charter for that office.
(Amd. of 11-4-2014)