Auburn’s new charter, adopted by voters in November, makes it more difficult for citizens to recall elected officials. New rules put timing restrictions on recalls and require petitioners to be more specific about why officials are being recalled.

Recall petition

New: Requires petitioners to include the elected official’s name and a written statement of up to 200 words explaining why the elected official should be recalled.

Old: Requires the elected official’s name.

Expiration date

New: Recall petitions will expire after 90 days if they have not been returned to the city clerk.

Old: No expiration.

Grace period

New: Bans the filing of recall papers for an official during the first six months of their term and for six months after an unsuccessful recall election for a specific official.

Old: No language in the old charter.

Timing

New: The recall election must be held between 120 days and six months after the petitions are validated.

Old: Election must be scheduled between 30 days and six months after the petitions are validated, a three-month difference.

Signatures

New: Recall petitioners must gather 15 percent of the number of registered voters in Auburn as of Nov. 22, 2005.

Old: Groups must gather signatures from at least 20 percent of the voters who voted for the targeted official’s position in the November 2004 election.

For the five Auburn officials targeted by recall petitioners, that would mean:

Name Ward Signatures req. old charter Signatures req. new charter

Bethel Shields 1 450 533

Robert Hayes 2 448 529

Eric Samson 3 416 516

Kelly Matzen at large 2,084 2,593

Norm Guay mayor 2,084 2,593

Some rules won’t change

Rules that will not change include the makeup of the recall committee (five qualified Auburn voters), the timing of the petitions and the result:

• The city clerk still has 20 days to review the petitions once they’ve been filed and certify that they are either complete or not. If the city clerk says they don’t have enough signatures, the recall committee can amend its petition once. That allows it to collect more signatures.

• If voters go to the polls and agree to recall a city elected official (councilor, School Committee member or mayor), the seat becomes vacant once the results have been tallied and determined to be official. A second election, to refill the job, will then be scheduled. (See above under “Timing.”)