Chapter 22 Elections and Town Meetings

All business of the Annual Town Meeting, except the election of such officers and the determination of such matters as are required by law to be elected or determined by ballot, shall be considered on the Wednesday preceding the election of Town officers, at a time and place designated by the Select Board (Board).

The polls shall be opened at 11:00 in the morning and shall remain open until 7:00 in the evening. The place of voting in each precinct shall be designated by the Board in the Town warrant.

Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by posting attested copies of the warrant therefor in a public place in each precinct as directed by the Board not less than seven days before the day fixed for the Annual Town Meeting, and not less than 14 days before the day fixed for a Special Town Meeting, and notice of said Town Meeting shall be published in a local newspaper and on the Town website.

Warrants for Annual Town Meetings and Special Town Meetings shall be open for a minimum of 14 days before closing and posting the warrants.

The Town Clerk shall appoint checkers, who shall permit only registered voters to enter upon the floor of the Annual or any Town Meeting; a section marked "non-registered" shall be opened to the public.

Articles of the warrant shall be acted upon in the order in which they appear unless otherwise determined by the vote of the meeting.

All motions having to do with the expenditure of money shall be presented in writing; other motions shall be in writing if so directed by the Moderator.

Any person who is employed as an attorney by another interested in any matter under discussion at a Town Meeting shall disclose the fact of his employment before speaking thereon.

When a question is put, the sense of the meeting shall be determined by the voices of the voters and the Moderator shall declare the vote as it appears to him/her. If the Moderator is unable to decide the vote by the sound of the voices, or if his/her decision is immediately questioned by seven or more voters rising in their places for that purpose, he/she shall determine the vote by ordering a show of hands, and he/she may appoint tellers to make and return the count. On matters requiring a two-thirds vote by statute a count need not be taken unless the vote so declared is immediately questioned by the Moderator or seven or more voters as provided in MGL c. 39, § 15. Notwithstanding the above or any provision of these bylaws to the contrary, subject to the availability of a system to enable electronic voting by Town Meeting using handheld devices, the Moderator may count the vote, or conduct a roll call vote, on any matter before the Town Meeting by the use of such system.

The meeting may order that the vote on any motion shall be taken by a "Yes" and "No" ballot.

No vote of the meeting shall be reconsidered unless notice of intention to ask for reconsideration shall have been given within one hour after the vote to which such notice relates has been passed. When a motion for reconsideration is decided, that decision shall not be reconsidered, and no question shall be reconsidered more than once; nor shall any vote be reconsidered on a motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, or for the previous question.

All committees shall report as directed by the Town. If no report is made within a year after its appointment, a committee shall be discharged unless, in the meantime, the Town shall have granted an extension of time.

No motion, the effect of which would be to dissolve the meeting, shall be in order until every article in the warrant therefor has been duly considered and acted upon, but this shall not preclude the postponement of consideration of any article to a recess of the meeting at a stated time and place.

A motion to "pass over" an article in the warrant shall not be entertained until a motion incorporating the substance of said article is before the meeting and at least one voter has spoken in favor thereof, unless, after a reasonable opportunity so to do, no voter makes such motion or speaks in favor thereof. A motion to "pass over" shall be debatable as to its merits but not as to the merits of the article.

The most current issue of Town Meeting Time is to be considered the general guideline for all procedures of Town Meetings, except those procedures already provided for by the bylaws.

The Board shall post all bylaws and Town Meeting warrants on the official Town website, within one business day of posting warrants or within three business days following notification of acceptance by the Attorney General of Massachusetts for bylaws. Bylaws existing prior to the passage of this bylaw shall be posted on the official Town website by the end of the fiscal year following passage of this article.

The Board shall designate an official Town website, for the posting of Town business, and provide for its maintenance, security, and improvement through a specific budget line item in the fiscal year following passage of this article.