§ 101-6. Board of civil authority

(a) A Board of Civil Authority shall consist of the justices of the peace residing within the Town, the Town Clerk, and the Selectboard. At the first meeting following each annual Town election, the Board shall elect a Chair from among its members; the Town Clerk shall be the Clerk of the Board. In the event of the absence of either the Chair or Clerk from any meeting of the Board, the first order of business shall be the election of a Chair or Clerk, Pro Tempore, to serve for the balance of the meeting.

(b)(1) The Board of Civil Authority shall meet as necessary to prepare, revise, and post in the manner required by law an alphabetical list of all the legal voters in the Town. For that purpose, the Board shall have access to any books or lists belonging to the Town, except as provided by law, and may require the assistance of any of the Town officers.

(2) The Town Clerk shall post in five places an attested copy of the list of voters so prepared and corrected, at least 30 days prior to the regular or special town meeting or election, and the list of voters so prepared and corrected shall be used at annual or special meetings and elections, except as otherwise allowed by State law.

(3) In preparing the list of voters, the Board shall record each name in such manner as to identify each voter precisely, so as to avoid any possible confusion.

(c) In addition to any other requirement of law, the Board shall cause at least two notices of the time and place of each of its meetings for the purpose of revising the checklist to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town. Publication shall be at least two and not more than 10 days prior to such meeting, but no notice need be published with respect to an adjourned session of a meeting for which notice has been given.

(d) The Board shall assist the Town Clerk and Moderator in supervising all Town elections and meetings and shall take care that all laws and requirements relating to elections and election procedures and Town meetings are fully and faithfully kept. The Board may require the presence of any law enforcement officers it may judge necessary to preserve the integrity of any election or Town meeting.

(e) Except as otherwise provided by law for additions to the checklist, a majority of all of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for all purposes.

(f) Ballots, conduct of elections, counting of votes, recount of votes, and certification of results shall be governed by the general State law, except as otherwise provided in this charter. (Amended 2017, No. M-14 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Mar. 1, 2018; 2019, No. M-1, § 2, eff. April 19, 2019.)