Chapter 2 - Elections

Section 2-1 - General

1. Nomination and election of state and federal officers, state senators and representatives, judge of probate and such elective Town officers, boards and commissions as are provided for in this Charter shall be conducted, and the Registrars of Voters shall prepare lists of electors qualified to vote therefore, in the manner prescribed in the constitution and the general and special laws of the state applicable to the Town, except as hereinafter provided.
2. Regular Town elections shall take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each odd-numbered year.

Section 2-2 - Minority Representation, Elective Agencies

Minority representation on any elective board, committee, commission or similar body of the Town shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of section 9-167a of the general statutes except in the case of a five-member board, committee, commission or similar body where the maximum number of any such board, committee, commission or similar body from the same political party shall be three. The maximum number of any elective board, committee, commission or similar body who may be members of the same political party shall be as specified in the following table:

Section 2-3 - Municipal Voting Districts

There shall be voting districts as the same existed on the effective date of this Charter, and the number of such districts shall not be increased or diminished, nor their boundaries altered, except by ordinance of the Board of Selectmen approved by a majority of the electors voting on a date established by the Board of Selectmen.

Section 2-4 - Eligibility for Office

No person who is not at the time of his election a registered voter of the Town shall be eligible for election to any Town office, and any person ceasing to be a registered voter of said Town shall thereupon automatically cease to hold elective office in the Town.

Section 2-5 - Breaking a Tie

When any regular or special Town election conducted pursuant to the provisions of this Charter results in a tie, and all but one of the tied candidates shall not have voluntarily retired from the contest, a special election shall be conducted to determine who shall be elected. Said special election shall be held by the Board of Selectmen on the seventh day after the election which resulted in a tie and shall be confined to the tied candidates. Any voting machine, the returns from which are not subject to disagreement, may be unlocked and used in said special election. If voting machines are not available in sufficient number, paper ballots may be used in place of or in conjunction with voting machines.

Section 2-6 - Vacancies

Any vacancy in any elective Town office from whatever cause arising, except in the office of First Selectman or in the office of selectman or in the office of Registrar of Voters where governed by the general statutes, shall be filled by appointment by the Board of Selectmen for the unexpired portion of the term or until the next biennial election, whichever shall be sooner; provided that when the person vacating the office shall have been elected as a member of a political party, such vacancy shall be filled by the appointment of a member of the same political party. If there is a biennial election before the expiration of the term of office of any person appointed to an elective office under the provisions of this section, such office shall be filled by the election of a person to fill that office for the unexpired portion of the term, such person to take office on the second Tuesday following the election. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the First Selectman or in the office of selectman, it shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board of Selectmen with a member of the same political party of the person who is being replaced. If the board cannot decide upon a person within thirty days of the occurrence of the vacancy, a special election shall be held as soon as possible in procedural accordance with state statutes and subject to the minority representation provisions of this Charter. Vacancies in the office of Registrar of Voters shall follow the provisions of section 9-192 of the general statutes where applicable.