(a) Recall Procedure. Any elected officer provided for in this charter may be removed from office by the registered voters qualified to vote for the office as provided in this section. A petition demanding that the question of removing the officer be submitted to those qualified to vote for the office shall be addressed to council and filed with the clerk of council. The petition shall be signed by registered voters qualified to vote for the office and equal in number to at least 15 percent of the total votes cast at the last regular municipal election for the office of the officer sought to be recalled, in case the officer was elected by the voters of the entire city. The petition shall be signed by registered voters qualified to vote for the office and equal in number to at least 25 percent of the total votes cast by the voters of the officer's ward at the last regular municipal election for that office, if the officer was elected to a ward position. The question of the removal of any officer shall not be submitted to the registered voters until the officer has served one year of the term during which the person is sought to be recalled or, in case of an officer retained in a recall election, until one year after that recall election.
(b) Recall Petitions. Recall petition papers shall be procured from the clerk of council. Prior to the issuance of petition papers, an affidavit shall be made by one or more registered voters qualified to vote for the officer and filed with the clerk, stating the name and office of the officer sought to be removed. The clerk shall enter in a record maintained by the clerk the name of each registered voter to whom the petition paper was issued and shall certify upon each paper the name of each registered voter to whom the paper was issued and the date of issuance. No petition paper issued under this section shall be accepted as part of a petition unless it bears the clerk's certificate and is filed as provided in this section.
(c) Signatures to Recall Petition. Each signer of a recall petition shall sign his or her name in ink, and shall place his or her residence address on the petition paper after his or her name. The signatures to any petition paper need not all be appended to one paper, but to each paper there shall be attached an affidavit by the circulator of the petition stating the number of signers to that part of the petition and that each signature appended to the paper is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and was made in the presence of the circulator.
(d) Filing of Recall Petition. All papers constituting a recall petition shall be assembled and filed with the clerk of council as one instrument within 30 days after the filing with the clerk the affidavit required by Section 9.4(b). Within 10 days after the filing of a petition the clerk shall transmit all the papers constituting the petition to the county board of elections. The board shall examine all signatures on the petition to determine the number of registered voters of the city or ward who signed the petition. The board shall return the petition to the clerk within 10 days after receiving it, together with a statement attesting to the number of registered voters of the city or ward who signed the petition. Upon receipt of the statement from the board of elections, the clerk shall endorse upon the petition a certificate of the result by showing the number of signatures required and the number of qualified registered voters the board of elections has determined signed the petition. If the clerk's certificate shows that the petition contains insufficient valid signatures in its support, the clerk shall at once notify each person to whom the petition paper was issued pursuant to Section 9.4(b) by depositing the notice in United States mail with postage prepaid and by sending to an email address indicated to be sufficient for notice by any person to whom the petition paper was issued.
(e) Supplemental Recall Petitions. In the event the initial petition contained insufficient signatures, it may be supported by supplemental signatures of qualified registered voters signed in the manner required in Section 9.4(c) appended to petitions issued, signed and filed as required for the original petition within 15 days after the date of the notice of insufficiency by the clerk. Within 10 days after the filing of these additional signatures, the clerk shall transmit all the additional petitions to the county board of elections. The board shall examine all signatures on the additional petitions to determine the number of registered voters of the city or ward who signed the additional petitions. The board shall return the additional petitions to the clerk within 10 days after receiving them, together with a statement attesting to the number of registered voters of the city or ward who signed the additional petitions. If the signatures are still insufficient, the clerk shall notify each person to whom the original petition paper was issued pursuant to Section 9.4(b) in the manner described in Section 9.4(d). The final finding of the insufficiency of a recall petition shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose, provided that no new petition shall be filed by any of the same persons within one year after the final finding of insufficiency.
(f) Recall Election. If a recall petition or supplemental petition shall be certified by the clerk to be sufficient, the clerk shall at once submit the petition with a certificate to council and shall notify the officer sought to be recalled of the recall action. If the officer whose removal is sought does not resign within five days after this notice, council shall order and fix a day for holding a recall election. Any recall election shall be held not less than 60 nor more than 90 days after the petition has been presented to council, whether at a primary, regular municipal or other general election or, if none of these elections shall occur within 90 days after the petition has been presented to council, at a special recall election called by council. The recall election shall be submitted to the registered voters of the entire city if the officer to be recalled was elected by the voters of the entire city, and the recall election shall be submitted to the registered voters of a single ward if the officer to be recalled was elected by the voters of a single ward. The county board of elections shall publish notice and make all arrangements for holding the recall election, which shall be conducted in all other respects as are special municipal elections.
(g) Ballots. The ballots at any recall election shall be in a form created by the county board of elections in accordance with general law in order to determine whether the officer whose removal is sought shall be recalled from office.
(h) Succeeding Officer. If the incumbent officer is not recalled in a recall election, he or she shall continue in office for the remainder of his or her unexpired term, subject to recall except as provided in this charter. If the incumbent officer is recalled in the recall election, he or she shall be deemed removed from office upon the announcement of the official canvass of that election, and the office shall be filled as in the case of permanent vacancies, except that the recalled officer may not be appointed to fill the vacancy.