Sec. 7-7. Conduct of meeting of municipal corporations. Vote by ballot or voting machine; when.
Sec. 7-7. Conduct of meeting of municipal corporations. Vote by ballot or voting machine; when. All towns, when lawfully assembled for any purpose other than
the election of town officers, and all societies and other municipal corporations when
lawfully assembled, shall choose a moderator to preside at such meetings, unless otherwise provided by law; and, except as otherwise provided by law, all questions arising
in such meetings shall be decided in accordance with standard parliamentary practice,
and towns, societies and municipal corporations may, by ordinance, adopt rules of order
for the conduct of their meetings. At any such town meeting the moderator shall be
chosen from the last-completed registry list of such town. Two hundred or more persons
or ten per cent of the total number qualified to vote in the meeting of a town or other
municipal corporation, whichever is less, may petition the clerk or secretary of such
town or municipal corporation, in writing, at least twenty-four hours prior to any such
meeting, requesting that any item or items on the call of such meeting be submitted to
the persons qualified to vote in such meeting not less than seven nor more than fourteen
days thereafter, on a day to be set by the town meeting or, if the town meeting does not
set a date, by the town selectmen, for a vote by paper ballots or by a "Yes" or "No" vote
on the voting machines, during the hours between twelve o'clock noon and eight o'clock
p.m.; but any municipality may, any provision of any special act to the contrary notwithstanding, by vote of its legislative body provide for an earlier hour for opening the polls
but not earlier than six o'clock a.m. The selectmen of the town may, not less than five
days prior to the day of any such meeting, on their own initiative, remove any item on
the call of such meeting for submission to the voters in the manner provided by this
section or may submit any item which, in the absence of such a vote, could properly
come before such a meeting to the voters at a date set for such vote or along with any
other vote the date of which has been previously set. The paper ballots or voting machine
ballot labels, as the case may be, shall be provided by such clerk or secretary. When
such a petition has been filed with such clerk or secretary, the moderator of such meeting,
after completion of other business and after reasonable discussion, shall adjourn such
meeting and order such vote on such item or items in accordance with the petition; and
any item so voted may be rescinded in the same manner. If such moderator resigns or
is for any other cause unable to serve as moderator at such adjourned meeting, such
clerk or secretary shall serve, or may appoint an elector of such municipality to serve,
as moderator of such adjourned meeting. Such clerk or secretary, as the case may be,
shall phrase such item or items in a form suitable for printing on such paper ballots or
ballot labels, provided that the designation of any such item shall be in the form of a
question, as prescribed under section 9-369. The vote on any item on the call of a town
or other municipal corporation shall be taken by paper ballot if so voted at the meeting,
if no petition has been filed under this section with reference to such item.
(1949 Rev., S. 495; 1953, S. 210d; 1957, P.A. 545; 1961, P.A. 593; 1967, P.A. 805, S. 2; 1969, P.A. 3, S. 1; 694, S.
18; P.A. 73-467; P.A. 79-631, S. 28, 111; P.A. 81-228; P.A. 86-170, S. 3, 13.)
History: 1961 act substituted deciding of questions in accordance with standard parliamentary practices for deciding
by majority vote and authorized adoption of rules of order by ordinance; 1967 act changed poll opening from 8 to 6 a.m.
and amended town's options re hours to remove option of shorter voting period than specified; 1969 acts changed poll
hours from between "6 a.m. and 6 p.m." to between "twelve noon and eight p.m." and replaced former option of keeping
polls open until eight p.m. with option for earlier opening than specified; P.A. 73-467 changed requirements for petition
to 10% of population or the previous 200 persons, whichever is less; P.A. 79-631 made technical changes; P.A. 81-228
allowed selectmen to call for referendum on their own initiative; P.A. 86-170 required that designation on ballot label be
in form of question.
See Sec. 9-1 for applicable definitions.
Cited. 184 C. 200. Cited. 204 C. 551. Cited. 234 C. 513.
Cited. 13 CA 325.