Nomination of candidates for town meeting members, how made. Proviso. Acceptance of nomination. Warrant articles, how acted upon, etc. Moderator, election, etc. Moderator pro tempore. Vacancies in full number of town meeting members, filling, etc. Notices of vacancy. Calling of SECTION 4. Nomination of candidates for town meeting members to be elected under this act shall be made by nomination which shall bear no political designation papers, and shall be signed by not less than twenty-five voters of the precinct in which the candidate resides, and filed with the town clerk at least ten days before the election; provided, that any town meeting member may become a candidate for re-election by giving written notice thereof to the town clerk at least twenty days before such election. No nomination paper shall be valid in respect to any candidate whose written acceptance is not thereon or attached thereto. SECTION 5. The articles in the warrant for every town meeting, so far as they relate to the election of the moderator, town officers, and town meeting members, as herein before provided, to referenda and all matters to be acted upon and determined by ballot, shall be so acted upon and determined by the voters of the town in their respective precinct meetings. All other articles in the warrant for any town meeting, beginning with the annual town meeting in the year when said town meeting members are first elected, shall be acted upon and determined exclusively by town meeting members at a meeting to be held at such time and place as shall be set forth by the selectmen in the warrant for the meeting, subject to the referendum provided for by section. eight. SECTION 6. A moderator shall be elected by ballot at each annual town meeting and shall serve as moderator of all town meetings, except as otherwise provided by law, until a successor is elected and qualified. Nominations for and election of a moderator shall be as in the case of other elective town officers, and any vacancy in the office may be filled by the town meeting members at a meeting held for that purpose. If a moderator is absent a moderator pro tempore may be elected by the town meeting members. SECTION 7. Any vacancy in the full number of town meeting members from any precinct may be filled until the next annual election by the remaining town meeting members of the precinct from among the registered voters thereof. Upon petition therefor signed by not less than ten town meeting members from the precinct, notices of the vacancy shall promptly be given by the town clerk to the remaining members from the precinct in which the vacancy exists, and said clerk shall call a special meeting of such members for special meeting the purpose of filling any vacancy. The town clerk shall cause to be mailed to every such member, not less than four days before the time set for the meeting, a notice specifying the object, time and place of the meeting. At the said meeting a majority of the members shall constitute a quorum, and they shall elect from their own number a chairman and a clerk. The choice to fill any vacancy shall be by ballot, and a majority of the votes cast shall be required for a choice. The chairman and the clerk shall make a certificate of the choice and forthwith file the same with the town Choice by ballot. Certificate of choice, etc. clerk, together with a written acceptance by the member or members so chosen, who shall thereupon be deemed elected and qualified as a town meeting member or members, subject to the right of all the town meeting members to judge of the election and qualifications of members as set forth in section three. warrant operative. SECTION 8. No article in the warrant shall at any rep- Disposition of resentative town meeting be finally disposed of by a vote to articles, etc. pass over, to lay upon the table, to indefinitely postpone or to take no action thereon. No vote passed at any repre- Votes, when sentative town meeting under any article in the warrant, except a vote to adjourn or a vote for the temporary borrowing of money in anticipation of taxes, shall be operative until after the expiration of seven days, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, from the dissolution of the meeting. If, within Referendum. said seven days a petition, signed by not less than two hundred registered voters of the town, containing their names and addresses, as they appear on the list of registered voters, or signed by not less than fifty town meeting members, is filed with the selectmen requesting that the question or questions involved in such vote be submitted to the voters of the town at large, then the selectmen, within fourteen days after the filing of the petition, shall call a special meeting, which shall be held within ten days after the issuing of the call, for the sole purpose of presenting to the voters at large the question or questions so involved. The polls Polling hours. shall be opened at two o'clock in the afternoon and shall be closed not earlier than eight o'clock in the evening, and all votes upon any questions so submitted shall be taken by Votes by ballot, ballot, and the check list shall be used in the several precinct meetings in the same manner as in the election of town officers. The questions so submitted shall be determined by Questions, how vote of the same proportion of voters at large voting thereon etc. as would have been required by law of the town meeting members had the question been finally determined at a representative town meeting. The questions so submitted Questions, how shall be stated upon the ballot in the same language and ballot, etc. form in which they were stated when presented to said representative town meeting by the moderator as appears from the records of the said meeting. If such petition is not filed tive if no within the said period of seven days, the vote of the repre- petition, etc. sentative town meeting shall become operative upon the expiration of the said period. etc. determined, stated upon Votes opera town and its SECTION 9. The town of Wakefield, after the acceptance Powers of of this act, shall have the capacity to act through and to be town meeting bound by its said town meeting members who shall, when members, etc. convened from time to time as herein provided, constitute representative town meetings; and the representative town meetings shall exercise exclusively, so far as will conform to the provisions of this act, all powers vested in the municipal corporation. Action in conformity with all provisions of law now or hereafter applicable to the transaction of town affairs in town meetings shall, when taken by any representa Certain rights not abridged, etc. Submission to voters of town of Wakefield, etc. Time of taking effect. tive town meeting in accordance with the provisions of this act, have the same force and effect as if such action had been taken in a town meeting open to all the voters of the town as heretofore organized and conducted. SECTION 10. This act shall not abridge the right of the inhabitants of Wakefield to hold general meetings, as that right is secured to them by the constitution of the commonwealth; nor shall this act confer upon any representative town meeting in Wakefield the power finally to commit the town to any measure affecting its municipal existence or changing its government, without action thereon by the voters of the town at large, using the ballot and the check lists therefor. SECTION 11. This act shall be submitted to the registered voters of the town of Wakefield at any annual or special town meeting called for the purpose. The vote shall be taken in precincts by ballot in accordance with the provisions of the general laws, so far as the same shall be applicable, in answer to the question, which shall be placed upon the official ballot used for the election of town officers: "Shall an act passed by the general court in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-six entitled 'An Act providing for precinct voting, representative town meetings, town meeting members, a referendum and an annual moderator in the town of Wakefield' be accepted by this town?" SECTION 12. So much of this act as authorizes its submission for acceptance to the registered voters of the town shall take effect upon its passage, and the remainder shall take effect upon its acceptance by a majority of the voters voting thereon. Approved February 15, 1926. Chap. 37 AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE MASSACHUSETTS HOMEOPATHIC Massachusetts Homœopathic Hospital may hold additional property. HOSPITAL TO HOLD ADDITIONAL PROPERTY. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: The Massachusetts Homœopathic Hospital, incorporated by chapter four hundred and eleven of the acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, is hereby authorized, for the purposes of its incorporation, to hold property to an amount not exceeding ten million dollars. Approved February 15, 1926. Chap. 38 AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE FORM OF APPLICATION FOR BALLOTS G. L. 54, 87, par. (b), amended. Form of application for ballots by absent voters. BY ABSENT VOTERS. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section eighty-seven of chapter fifty-four of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (b) and inserting in place thereof the following: (b) Blank forms of application for such ballots, worded as follows: I, hereby apply for an official absent voting ballot. I am a legal resident of the city or town of and a duly registered voter at (Street and Number) (City or Town) and, as I believe, entitled to vote at the next state election at ward (Street and Number) (City or Town) (State) (If in the service of the United States, the applicant will fill out the following:) I am in the military, naval, civil service of the United States, and my rank or official position of (date) We, the undersigned, a majority of the registrars of voters of the hereby certify that the above signature, to the best of our knowledge and belief, appears to be genuine, and that we believe said is a duly registered voter in said pre AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF BOYLSTON TO BORROW Chap. 39 MONEY FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Boylston may for school School Loan, SECTION 1. For the purpose of constructing a school Town of building and originally equipping and furnishing said build- borrow money ing, the town of Boylston may borrow from time to time, purposes. within a period of five years from the passage of this act, such sums as may be necessary, not exceeding, in the aggregate, fifteen thousand dollars, and may issue bonds or notes therefor, which shall bear on their face the words, Boylston Boylston School Loan, Act of 1926. Each authorized issue shall constitute a separate loan, and such loans shall be paid in not more than fifteen years from their dates, but no issue shall be authorized under this act unless a sum equal to an amount not less than ten per cent of such authorized issue is voted for the same purpose to be raised in the tax levy of the year when authorized. Indebtedness incurred under this act shall be in excess of the statutory limit, but shall, except as herein provided, be subject to chapter forty-four of the General Laws, exclusive of the proviso inserted in section seven of said chapter by chapter three hundred and thirtyeight of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-three. SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Approved February 18, 1926. AN ACT FURTHER EXTENDING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE NORTH Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Chap. 40 ford Fire SECTION 1. The boundaries of the North Chelmsford North ChelmsFire District, established by chapter one hundred and nine- District, teen of the acts of nineteen hundred and six and extended boundaries by chapter three hundred and fourteen of the acts of nine- extended. teen hundred and ten, are hereby further extended so as to further include the territory hereinafter described and such taxable SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. Chap. 41 AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE UNION TRUST COMPANY OF SPRING Union Trust Company of Springfield, Massachusetts may hold additional real estate, etc. FIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, TO HOLD ADDITIONAL REAL ESTATE Be it enacted, etc., as follows: SECTION 1. The Union Trust Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, a trust company organized under the laws of this commonwealth and having its usual place of business in the city of Springfield, may, subject otherwise to the provisions of section forty-one of chapter one hundred and seventy-two of the General Laws, as amended by chapter |