reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:75-46 - Election not to be restrained or delayed; effect of writs

40:75-46. Election not to be restrained or delayed; effect of writs
In order to prevent an incumbent or any other person acting either directly or indirectly in his behalf, from delaying or obstructing the recall election and thereby preventing the incumbent's removal, no writ or order issued out of any court shall be allowed whereby the recall election is prevented, restrained, or delayed, but the recall election shall proceed, notwithstanding any proceedings which may be instituted in any court whereby the legality of any of the petitions, acts, or elections permitted or authorized herein are to be reviewed.
Such proceedings for review are not hereby restrained, but may proceed to final judgment, and if as a result thereof it is determined that the incumbent has not been legally removed, then he shall be restored to his office and his salary for the term he has been removed shall be paid.
All acts of the boards of commissioners done while such incumbent was removed from his office shall be as lawful as if he had been present and participated therein.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:75-47 - Petitions need not be on single paper; minor defects immaterial

40:75-47. Petitions need not be on single paper; minor defects immaterial
No petition required by this article need be upon a single paper, but any such petition may be upon any number of separate papers, for the purpose of more conveniently obtaining signatures. The form of each separate paper shall be in the form provided herein, and there shall be attached thereto an affidavit of one of the signers of each paper, declaring that the signatures thereon are in the handwriting of the signers, and are to the best of his knowledge and belief the signatures of the persons purporting to sign the same.
No petition shall be rejected by the municipal clerk for any typographical deviation of the form provided herein or for any minor departure therefrom, but such petition shall be accepted if it substantially conforms to the forms provided herein, the forms being for the guidance of the parties.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:75-48 - Reorganization of board after recall

40:75-48. Reorganization of board after recall
After the incumbent has been recalled and the nominee has succeeded him in the office of commissioner, the board may reorganize and reassign the various departments as provided in article 2 of chapter 72 of this title (s. 40:72-2 et seq.). It may also remove from office any person appointed by the commissioner who has been removed, if such appointment was made within six months from the time of the filing of the recall petition.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:75-49 - Certain acts prohibited; penalties.

40:75-49 Certain acts prohibited; penalties.
40:75-49. Any person not an elector who shall willfully and knowingly sign any petition provided for in this article and any person advising, aiding or abetting any such person not an elector to sign any petition provided for in this article shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
Amended 2005, c.154, s.60.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-1 - After six years may resume charter

40:76-1. After six years may resume charter
Any municipality which shall have operated for more than six years under the provisions of the act entitled "An act relating to, regulating and providing for the government of cities, towns, townships, boroughs, villages and municipalities governed by boards of commissioners or improvement commissioners" (title as amended), approved April twenty-fifth, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, or under the provisions of chapters 70 to 76 of this title (s. 40:70-1 et seq.), or both, may at a special election held not later than August fifteenth in any year, abandon such organization thereunder and may resume the form of government under the law under which it was being governed, when said act or said chapters 70 to 76 was or were adopted, subject to any amendments and supplements to said law which may have been made in the interim. The procedure shall be as hereinafter in this chapter provided.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-2 - Petition for submission; proposition stated

40:76-2. Petition for submission; proposition stated
A petition in writing, signed by not less than twenty-five per cent of the electors of the municipality, shall be filed by the agent designated in the petition with the municipal clerk, requesting that a special election be called at which the following proposition shall be submitted to the voters of the municipality:
"Shall the (name of municipality) abandon its government under chapters 70 to 76 of the title Municipalities and Counties of the Revised Statutes (s. 40:70-1 et seq.), commonly known as the "Walsh Act', and resume the form of government under the law under which it was operating at the time when such commission form of government was adopted, subject to any amendments and supplements to said laws which have been passed in the interim?"
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-3 - Petition; form and content

40:76-3. Petition; form and content
The petition shall be in substantially the following form:
"To the clerk of ........................... (insert name of municipality). You are hereby requested to call a special election, which shall not be held later than August the fifteenth in any year for the purpose of submitting the following proposition to the voters of ................................ (insert name of municipality): (here insert proposition as set forth in section 40:76-2 of this title); and for so doing this petition shall be your sufficient warrant.
............................ (insert name) is hereby designated as our agent or one of our agents to file this petition.
............................ (insert name) is hereby designated as our agent or one of our agents to file this petition.
............................ (insert name) is hereby designated as our agent or one of our agents to file this petition.
Signed.
Name. Street Address.
............................... ........................................
................................ ........................................
................................ ........................................
................................ ........................................
State of New Jersey, ) ss.
County of ....................... )
....................... , being duly sworn according to law, says: That he is the person who procured the signatures on this sheet, and that he knows that the signatures thereon are in the handwriting of the signers, and to the best of his knowledge and belief are the signatures of the persons purporting to sign the same.
Subscribed and sworn to before
me this ....... day of ..........., A.D. 19 ..... "
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-4 - Petition need not be on single paper; affidavit annexed

40:76-4. Petition need not be on single paper; affidavit annexed
The petition need not be on a single paper, but may be on any number of separate sheets of paper, for the purpose of more conveniently obtaining signatures. Each separate paper shall be in the form provided in section 40:76-3 of this title, and there shall be attached thereto the affidavit of the person who procured the signatures, declaring that the signatures thereon are in the handwriting of the signers, and to the best of his knowledge and belief are the signatures of the persons purporting to have signed the same. The affidavit may be sworn to before any officer competent to administer oaths.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-5 - Clerk to examine petition; minor deviations permissible

40:76-5. Clerk to examine petition; minor deviations permissible
The municipal clerk shall examine the petition, within ten days of the date of its being filed with him, to ascertain whether or not it conforms to the requirements of this chapter. In examining the signatures of the electors he may, if in doubt as to the genuineness of any of them, compare them with the signatures contained in the registry books used at the last preceding general election. The petition shall be accepted if it substantially conforms to the form provided herein, the form being for the guidance of the parties and no petition shall be rejected by the clerk for any typographical deviation from the form provided herein or for any minor departure therefrom.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-6 - Defective petitions; clerk to notify agent

40:76-6. Defective petitions; clerk to notify agent
If he shall determine that the petition does not conform to the requirements of this chapter, then within ten days from the date of the filing of the petition with him the clerk shall personally serve in writing, upon the person designated in the petition as agent of the petitioners, his objections, setting forth in detail wherein the petition is deficient.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-7 - Determination of validity of clerk's objections

40:76-7. Determination of validity of clerk's objections
The agent who filed the petition may, however, within ten days after service upon him of the municipal clerk's objections as provided in section 40:76-6 of this Title, apply to a judge of the Superior Court for a determination of the validity of the clerk's objections to the petition.
Amended by L.1953, c. 37, p. 735, s. 245, eff. March 19, 1953.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-8 - If petitioners prevail clerk to call election

40:76-8. If petitioners prevail clerk to call election
The judge of the Superior Court shall hear and determine, in a summary manner, the question as to the legality of the clerk's objections, and if he shall determine that the petition as filed with the clerk conforms to the provisions of this chapter, he shall order that the petition be filed in the office of the clerk of the municipality, and the clerk shall forthwith proceed to call a special election as herein provided.
Amended by L.1953, c. 37, p. 736, s. 246, eff. March 19, 1953.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-9 - If clerk prevails petition returned to agent

40:76-9. If clerk prevails petition returned to agent
If the judge shall determine that the petition, as filed with the clerk, does not conform to the provisions of this chapter, he shall forthwith make an order, sustaining any or all of the clerk's objections, and shall order and direct that the petition be forthwith returned to the agent who filed it.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-10 - Petition amended; refiling

40:76-10. Petition amended; refiling
The agent to whom the petition has been returned, as provided in section 40:76-9 of this title may cause the petition to be amended or supplemented to correct any error or supply any deficiency shown by the order of the court, and may again file it with the municipal clerk, after it has been amended or supplemented, at any time within thirty days after the date of its return to the agent by the clerk.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-11 - Clerk to examine amended petition; procedure same as with original

40:76-11. Clerk to examine amended petition; procedure same as with original
The municipal clerk shall make a similar examination of the amended or supplemented petition, as is provided for in section 40:76-5 of this Title when the petition was originally filed. If this examination shows that the petition as amended or supplemented, does not conform to the provisions of this chapter, he shall again within ten days from the date of its being filed with him, as amended or supplemented, personally serve his written objections upon the agent as is provided in section 40:76-6 of this Title and the agent may apply to the judge of the Superior Court for review of the clerk's determination, in the same manner as is provided in section 40:76-7 of this Title. The same procedure shall be followed by the court as is provided in sections 40:76-8 and 40:76-9 of this Title. This shall be without prejudice to the filing with the clerk, of further amended or supplemented petitions to which the same procedure shall apply, as is provided for when an original petition is filed with the municipal clerk.
Amended by L.1953, c. 37, p. 736, s. 247, eff. March 19, 1953.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-12 - When petition finally accepted clerk to call election; procedure

40:76-12. When petition finally accepted clerk to call election; procedure
When it has been determined, by either the municipal clerk or a judge of the Superior Court, that the petition conforms to the provisions of this chapter, the clerk shall forthwith call a special election, to be held not later than August fifteenth, in any year, for the submission of the question of the abandonment of the commission form of government, to the legal voters of the municipality by proceeding in the manner hereinafter in this chapter provided.
Amended by L.1953, c. 37, p. 736, s. 248, eff. March 19, 1953.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-13 - Clerk to fix date for election; how fixed

40:76-13. Clerk to fix date for election; how fixed
The clerk shall fix a day for holding the special election, which shall be a Tuesday not more than thirty nor less than twenty days after the date of the certificate of notice provided for in section 40:76-15 of this title.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-14 - Election not to be held in year of regular election

40:76-14. Election not to be held in year of regular election
No special election for the submission of the proposition of the abandonment of the commission form of government to the voters of any municipality, shall be held in any municipality during the year in which commissioners are to be regularly elected therein.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-15 - Notice of election; form and content

40:76-15. Notice of election; form and content
The municipal clerk shall forthwith prepare a certificate of notice in the following form:
"This is to certify that a petition has been filed with the clerk of (insert name of municipality) requesting that a special election be called for the purpose of submitting the following question to the legal voters of (insert name of municipality).
" "Shall the (name of municipality) abandon its government under chapters 70 to 76 of the title Municipalities and Counties of the Revised Statutes (s. 40:70-1 et seq.), commonly known as the "Walsh Act" , and resume the form of government under the law under which it was operating at the time when such commission form of government was adopted, subject to any amendments and supplements to said laws which have been passed in the interim?'
"An election to decide this question will be held on Tuesday the day of , 19
"Dated this day of , 19
" " Municipal Clerk.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-17 - Copies of notice posted and published

40:76-17. Copies of notice posted and published
Copies of the certificate of notice shall be posted at least ten days prior to the election in at least twenty different conspicuous public places in the municipality, and published once a week for three successive weeks immediately preceding the election in at least one newspaper which has been published and circulated, for at least one year past, in such municipality. If there be no such newspaper the certificate of notice shall be published once a week for three successive weeks immediately preceding the election in at least one newspaper published, for at least one year past, in a municipality located in the same county in which the municipality holding the election is located and having a general circulation in such last-mentioned municipality.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-18 - Arrangements for election; expenses

40:76-18. Arrangements for election; expenses
The municipal clerk and the board of commissioners shall make or cause to be made all arrangements for holding the special election, and shall provide all necessary funds therefor, and the board of commissioners are hereby required and empowered to raise the funds necessary for this purpose.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-19 - Time and place of election; conduct of election

40:76-19. Time and place of election; conduct of election
The special election shall be held at the usual place or places of holding the annual election in the municipality if the same be practicable, but if not practicable the clerk shall provide a suitable voting place in each election district in the municipality. The polls shall remain open during the hours from seven o'clock in the forenoon until nine o'clock at night, and the election shall be conducted, by the election officers then holding office for the purpose of conducting elections in such municipality, in the manner prescribed by the laws relating to elections.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-20 - Addition of names to registry books; county board to sit

40:76-20. Addition of names to registry books; county board to sit
The county board of election shall sit in some public place in the municipality where the special election is to be held, on at least one day in the week prior to the day of the special election. It may, by order, grant transfers and place upon the registry books the names of those persons whose names were not on the registry books of the last preceding general election, but who would be entitled to be registered if the special election were in fact a general election.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-21 - Ballot; number, form and content

40:76-21. Ballot; number, form and content
The municipal clerk shall provide ballots for each voter at such special election, to be printed on plain, substantial, white paper. The number of ballots to be provided by the clerk for each voting district in the municipality shall be at least fifteen per cent more than the total number of persons that voted in such district at the last preceding general election. The ballot shall be in substantially the following form:
"To vote upon the public question printed below, if in favor thereof mark a cross (X) or plus (+) in the square at the left of the word YES, and if opposed thereto mark a cross (X) or plus (+) in the square at the left of the word NO.
" "Shall the ........................(name
of municipality) abandon its government under
[ ] YES chapters 70 to 76 of the title Municipalities
and Counties of the Revised Statutes (s. 40:70-1
et seq.), commonly known as the "Walsh Act",
and resume the form of government under
[ ] NO the law under which it was operating at the
time when such commission form of government
was adopted, subject to any amendments and
supplements to such laws which have been
passed in the interim?' "
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-22 - Results canvassed and certified; contents of certificate

40:76-22. Results canvassed and certified; contents of certificate
The election officers shall report to the municipal clerk, immediately after completing the count of the ballots, a true and correct statement in writing under their hands of the results of the election and the clerk shall certify the results of the election to the board of commissioners at its first meeting thereafter, and the same shall be entered at large in the minutes of the board. The clerk shall also certify the results to the secretary of state. In such certificates the clerk shall specify whether or not a majority of the votes are in favor of the proposition, and if they are, he shall further specify whether or not the number of votes cast in favor of the proposition is equal in number to at least thirty per cent of the number of persons who voted in the municipality at the last preceding general election.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-23 - Vote required for adoption; effect of adoption; exceptions

40:76-23. Vote required for adoption; effect of adoption; exceptions
If the certificate of the municipal clerk shows that both the majority of the votes cast are in favor of the proposition and that the number of the votes cast in favor thereof is equal in number to at least thirty per cent of the number of persons voting in the municipality at the last preceding general election, then the officers provided for under the law adopted for the government of such municipality at the special election shall be nominated and elected at the next succeeding primary and general elections in accordance with the provisions of the laws relating to elections in so far as such provisions are consistent with the provisions of the law adopted for the government of such municipality at the special election.
The municipal clerk shall take such steps and make such arrangements, as would be required of him were he in fact the clerk of a municipality being governed under the law adopted at the special election, as are required by law to provide for the nomination and election of the officers provided for under the law adopted for the government of such municipality at the special election.
The board of commissioners are hereby required and empowered to raise any funds necessary for this purpose, and upon the election, qualification and organization of the officers provided for under the law adopted for the government of such municipality at the special election, the commission form of government shall be ipso facto abolished in such municipality and such municipality shall cease to be governed by the provisions of chapters 70 to 76 of this title (s. 40:70-1 et seq.), and the terms of all the members of the board of commissioners and all other officers, with the exception of the members of the board of education and the trustees of the public library, in such municipality, whether elective or appointive, shall immediately cease and determine, and such municipality shall become a municipality under the law which was adopted for its government at the special election. Such change shall not affect the property, right, or liability of any nature of the municipality, but shall merely extend to such change in the form of government. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect the term of office of any policeman, fireman or other employee of any police or fire department, veteran of any war, or other official or employee now protected by a tenure of office act.
When the municipality is operating under the provisions of subtitle 3 of the title Civil Service (s. 11:19-1 et seq.), at the time of the abolition of the commission form of government therein, nothing herein contained relative to the termination of his term or to his dismissal or discharge shall apply to a person holding a position or office coming within the classified service of the civil service law.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-24 - Application and operation of certain laws not affected

40:76-24. Application and operation of certain laws not affected
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect the application of chapter eight of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes, nor shall anything herein be construed to impair the operation of chapter three of this Title.
Amended by L.1953, c. 37, p. 737, s. 249, eff. March 19, 1953.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-26 - Proposition not adopted, resubmission to voters.

40:76-26 Proposition not adopted, resubmission to voters.
40:76-26. If a majority of the votes cast at the special election are against the proposition submitted, no other petition for the submission, to the voters of such municipality, of the same proposition, as provided for in this chapter shall be filed with the clerk within two years thereafter, except that an ordinance proposed by petition to increase or decrease either the term of office of the members of the governing body or the number of members of the governing body, or regarding the division of the municipality into a number of wards, shall not be submitted to the voters of the municipality more than once in any 10-year period, after which date, upon the presentation of another petition or request as provided for herein, the same procedure shall be had, and the same proposition shall be again submitted to a vote in the manner herein prescribed and with the same force and effect.
amended 2009, c.339, s.2.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:76-27 - Certain acts prohibited; penalties

40:76-27. Certain acts prohibited; penalties
Any person not an elector who shall willfully and knowingly sign any petition provided for in this chapter, and any person who shall willfully and knowingly advise, aid or abet any person not an elector to sign any petition provided for in this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:78-1 - Villages coextensive with township; certain township offices abolished

40:78-1. Villages coextensive with township; certain township offices abolished
In any township where there exists a village operating under the commission form of government, the boundaries or territorial limits of which are coextensive with those of the township after excepting or excluding such portions of the township as may be included in the territorial limits of any borough, the offices of township clerk, assessor and collector are hereby abolished.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:78-2 - Clerk to turn over records; village clerk to act

40:78-2. Clerk to turn over records; village clerk to act
The clerk of such township shall forthwith turn over to the clerk of such village, all books, papers, vouchers and assets of the township being in his hands as such clerk, and the village clerk shall perform all the duties of the office of township clerk.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:78-4 - Village collector to succeed township collector

40:78-4. Village collector to succeed township collector
The governing body of the village may appoint a collector for the village who shall have all the powers, duties, privileges and liabilities by law conferred upon or required of the township collector. The township collector shall, immediately on the appointment of the village collector, deliver to the village collector all books, papers, vouchers, moneys and assets of the township and of the village in his hands as collector.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:79-2 - Definition of terms

40:79-2. Definition of terms
As used in this subtitle:
"Municipality" means any city, town, village, borough, township or any municipality governed by boards of commissioners or improvement commissions which has heretofore adopted the provisions of the act entitled "An act relating to, regulating and providing for the government of municipalities, except counties, by a municipal council and a municipal manager," approved March nineteenth, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three, or which shall adopt or take proceedings to adopt this subtitle.
"Municipal council" means the governing body of such municipality, which body shall be known as the city council, town council, village council, borough council or township council, as the case may be.
"Municipal clerk" means the city clerk, town clerk, village clerk, borough clerk or township clerk, as the case may be, of such municipality.
"Municipal attorney" means the city attorney, town attorney, village attorney, borough attorney or township attorney, of the municipality, as the case may be.
"Municipal manager" means the chief executive and administrative officer of any such municipality who shall be known as the city manager, town manager, village manager, borough manager or township manager, as the case may be.
"Department head" means the executive or administrative head of a subdivision of the municipal government acting under the immediate direction of the municipal council or municipal manager.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:79-3 - Municipalities governed by this subtitle; exception

40:79-3. Municipalities governed by this subtitle; exception
All municipalities which shall have heretofore adopted the provisions of the act entitled "An act relating to, regulating and providing for the government of municipalities, except counties, by a municipal council and a municipal manager," approved March nineteenth, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three, and all municipalities which shall hereafter adopt the provisions of this subtitle, shall be governed by a municipal council and a municipal manager in the manner herein in this subtitle set forth, but no municipality governed by the provisions of subtitle 4 of this title (s. 40:70-1 et seq.), shall institute proceedings hereunder for the adoption of this subtitle unless and until said subtitle 4 of this title, or the provisions of the act entitled "An act relating to, regulating and providing for the government of cities, towns, townships, boroughs, villages and municipalities governed by boards of commissioners or improvement commissions in this state" (title as amended), approved April twenty-fifth, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, or both said subtitle 4 of this title and said last mentioned act shall have been operative and in effect in such municipality for four years.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-1 - Special election; petition

40:80-1. Special election; petition
The legal voters of any municipality may adopt this subtitle at a special election to be held in such municipality, to be called by the municipal clerk upon request or petition in writing of the legal voters of the municipality not less in number than fifteen per centum (15%) of the number of persons who voted at the last preceding general election held for the purpose of electing all of the members of the general assembly as shown by the official canvass. At this election no other proposition shall be voted upon.
Amended by L.1950, c. 65, p. 118, s. 2, eff. April 25, 1950.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-2 - Clerk to call election; notice

40:80-2. Clerk to call election; notice
Upon the filing of such petition or request in writing with the municipal clerk, he shall forthwith call an election, to be held on the fourth Tuesday following the date of the filing of the petition with him, but such special election shall not be held within four weeks of the municipal election. The clerk shall cause public notice of the time and place of holding such election to be given by advertisement signed by himself and posted in at least twenty conspicuous places distributed throughout the municipality, and published for at least two issues on different days previous to the time of such election in at least one newspaper which has been so published in such municipality for at least six months last past, and if there be no such newspaper then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-3 - Ballot; number, form and content

40:80-3. Ballot; number, form and content
The municipal clerk shall provide double the number of ballots as there were voters registered for the last preceding general election in such municipality, to be printed upon plain, substantial white paper, in substantially the following form:
"To vote upon the public question printed below, if in favor thereof mark a cross ( x ) or plus (+) in the square at the left of the word YES, and if opposed thereto mark a cross ( x ) or plus (+) in the square at the left of the word NO.
"Shall subtitle 5 of the title
[ ] YES Municipalities and Counties of the
Revised Statutes (s. 40:79-1 et seq.),
[ ] NO providing for municipal manager form of
government, be adopted in ....................
(here insert name of municipality)?"
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-5 - Election agents; designated by petition

40:80-5. Election agents; designated by petition
Two agents for each election district may be designated by a petition signed by legal voters of the municipality equal in number to at least three per centum (3%) of the number of persons who voted in the municipality at the last preceding general election, held for the election of all of the members of the General Assembly. The petition shall name the agents designated and their respective districts, and shall be filed with the municipal clerk not later than the Tuesday next preceding the election. The petition shall bear on its face the name of a representative authorized to act for the petitioners in filling vacancies in the designation of any agent or agents named therein which may arise after the filing of said petition. Upon the filing of the petition the municipal clerk shall forthwith issue, under his hand, to each person designated therein a permit for him to act as agent in the election district specified in the petition. The permit shall be evidence of the right of the person named therein to be present in the polling place of the election district for which he has been designated and to challenge the right to vote therein of any person claiming such right and to be present while the ballots cast are being counted and to hear and see such ballots counted. The grounds for challenge and the procedure for disposition thereof shall be the same as prescribed by the laws regulating general elections. No signature shall be counted as valid for more than one petition and should any voter sign two or more petitions his signature shall be void as to the petition or petitioners last filed. A vacancy arising with respect to any agent shall be filled by the representative appointed in the petition designating such agent. Such appointment shall be certified to the municipal clerk, who shall forthwith issue a permit in the manner hereinbefore prescribed for agents designated by petition.
Amended by L.1948, c. 6, p. 52, s. 1, eff. April 5, 1948.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-6 - Time polls to be open; election officers; report

40:80-6. Time polls to be open; election officers; report
The polls shall remain open from seven o'clock in the forenoon until nine o'clock at night, and the election shall be conducted by the same election officers and in the manner prescribed by the laws regulating elections, and such officers shall report to the municipal clerk immediately after completing the count of the ballots a true and correct statement in writing under their hands of the results of such election.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-7 - Clerk to certify result

40:80-7. Clerk to certify result
The municipal clerk, within five days after the election, shall certify the results thereof to each member of the governing body of such municipality, enter the same at large in the minute books of said body and certify the same to the secretary of state. In such certificate he shall specify whether or not a majority of the votes cast are for the adoption of this subtitle, and if they are, he shall further specify whether or not the number of votes cast in favor of the adoption of this subtitle is equal in number to at least thirty per cent of the number of persons who voted in the municipality at the last preceding general election.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-8 - Vote required for adoption

40:80-8. Vote required for adoption
If it appears that both the majority of the votes cast are for the adoption of this subtitle, and that the number of votes cast for the adoption of this subtitle is equal in number to at least thirty per cent of the number of persons voting in such municipality at the last preceding general election, this subtitle, commencing on a date four weeks immediately following such election, shall in all respects, except as herein otherwise provided, become and be operative in such municipality and be binding upon its inhabitants and upon all persons and property to be affected thereby.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-9 - If majority against adoption no petition for two years

40:80-9. If majority against adoption no petition for two years
If a majority of the votes cast are against the adoption of this subtitle no other petition for its adoption shall be filed in such municipality within two years thereafter, after which date, upon the presentation of another petition or request as hereinbefore provided the same procedure shall be had, and the question of the adoption or rejection of this subtitle again submitted to a vote in the manner herein prescribed and with the same force and effect.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-10 - Corporate existence and name continued

40:80-10. Corporate existence and name continued
The corporate existence of any municipality, adopting this subtitle shall be continued and its corporate name and seal shall not be changed by such adoption, and all laws, general or special, relating to such municipality shall, except so far as inconsistent with this subtitle, apply to such municipality and it shall exercise the powers and duties thereby conferred and imposed.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-11 - Elective and appointive officers' terms cease; exceptions

40:80-11. Elective and appointive officers' terms cease; exceptions
Upon the adoption of this subtitle and upon the organization of the municipal council elected hereunder the governing body or bodies and all other executive and legislative bodies shall be ipso facto abolished, and the terms of all councilmen, aldermen, commissioners or trustees and all other elective officers shall immediately cease and determine. The term of all appointive officials and subordinates shall cease and determine at the end of four weeks after the organization of the municipal council, but the municipal council may by resolution terminate the employment of any such persons at any time during said four weeks' period but the term of such officials and subordinates shall continue until their successors are appointed and qualify. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to terminate the term of office of any member of the board of education, trustees of the free public library, policeman, fireman, or other employee of any police or fire department, veteran of any war, or official or employee now protected by any tenure of office law. If the municipality is operating under the provisions of Title 11, Civil Service, at the time of the adoption of this subtitle, nothing in this subtitle contained shall affect the tenure of office of any person holding any position or office coming within the provisions of said Title 11 as it applies to said officers and employees.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:80-12 - Inconsistent laws inapplicable; law relating to municipal courts unaffected

40:80-12. Inconsistent laws inapplicable; law relating to municipal courts unaffected
No law, general or special, or any provision thereof, affecting the government of any municipality governed by this subtitle and contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions hereof, shall apply to such municipality, but the adoption of this subtitle shall not affect the application of chapter eight of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Amended by L.1953, c. 37, p. 737, s. 250, eff. March 19, 1953.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:81-1 - Members; number; increase or decrease by initiative and referendum.

40:81-1 Members; number; increase or decrease by initiative and referendum.
40:81-1. The municipal council shall consist of three, five, seven or nine members as authorized on the effective date of this 1981 amendatory act.
After the effective date of this 1981 amendatory act, the legal voters of any municipality may, by petition and referendum, increase or decrease the number of the municipal council to three, five, seven or nine members. Upon the submission of a petition signed by a number of the legal voters of the municipality equal in number to at least 15% of the total votes cast in the municipality at the last election at which members of the General Assembly were elected, the proposition to increase or decrease the membership of the municipal council shall be submitted to the voters at the next general election. The proposition shall not be submitted more than once in any 10-year period.
The signatures, verification, authentication, inspection, certification, amendment and submission of the petition shall be the same as for petitions to recall councilmen and shall be filed and certified to by the municipal clerk at least 60 days before the general election at which the proposition shall be submitted to a vote.
The question of the increase in the number of commissioners shall be submitted to the voters at the election in substantially the following form:
"Shall the membership of the municipal council of (name of municipality) be (insert "increased" or "decreased" as appropriate) from to members?" (insert current number) (insert proposed number)
A canvass and return of the vote upon the proposition shall be made by the election officers in the same manner as for officers voted for at the election, and a majority of all the votes cast upon the proposition in favor of the proposition shall be sufficient to make the change.
When the legal voters shall have voted to increase or decrease the membership of the municipal council as provided in this section, the increase or decrease shall take effect for the next regular municipal election of councilmen.
amended 1940, c.223; 1952, c.139; 1955, c.200; 1980, c.94, s.6; 1981, c.427, s.2; 2009, c.339, s.7.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:81-4 - Members of first council; election and terms

40:81-4. Members of first council; election and terms
The members of the first municipal council shall be elected at the municipal election held on the fourth Tuesday after the adoption of this subtitle and shall serve as members of the council from twelve o'clock noon of the fourth Tuesday following such election until twelve o'clock noon of July 1 in the fourth year thereafter, save in those cases in which the terms of some of the members of the council shall expire at twelve o'clock noon on July 1 in each year in accordance with the provisions of article 3 of chapter 84 of this title (R.S. 40:84-9 et seq.), and until their successors shall have been elected and duly qualified, unless their places shall have become vacant. The election shall be conducted pursuant to the "Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law," P.L. [1981], c. [379] (C. [40:45-5 et seq.] ).
Amended by L.1981, c. 379, s. 21, eff. Jan. 1, 1982.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:81-5 - Time of annual election; terms.

40:81-5 Time of annual election; terms.
40:81-5. Except as otherwise provided by referendum of the voters, on the second Tuesday of May of the fourth year following such first election and on the second Tuesday of May of every fourth year thereafter, there shall be elected the number of electors hereinbefore prescribed of like qualifications to serve as members of the municipal council for the term of 4 years and until their successors shall have been elected and duly qualified or unless their places become vacant. The term of office of councilmen subsequently elected shall commence on July 1 next ensuing their election at 12 o'clock noon. Elections shall be conducted pursuant to the "Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law," P.L.1981, c.379 (C.40:45-5 et al.).
If the election is held on the day of the general election in November pursuant to subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.2009, c.196 (C.40:45-7.1), the term of office of councilmen elected shall commence at 12 o'clock noon on January 1 next following their election.
Amended 1981, c.379, s.22; 1981, c.427, s.3; 2009, c.196, s.12.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:81-6 - Councilmen; removal from office

40:81-6. Councilmen; removal from office
A member of the municipal council after having been in office for at least 2 years may be removed from office by a recall petition prepared and approved by the voters of the municipality in the manner hereinafter provided for recall procedure. Only one recall petition which results in an election may be filed against a member of the municipal council in 1 calendar year during his term of office, and at least 10 months shall intervene between a recall election and the filing of a new petition for the recall of such member.
Amended by L.1968, c. 53, s. 1, eff. June 5, 1968.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:81-7 - Organization; mayor chosen

40:81-7. Organization; mayor chosen
Four weeks after their election in the case of the first municipal council elected, and on July 1 following all subsequent municipal elections, the members-elect of the municipal council shall assemble at the usual place of meeting of the governing body of the municipality and organize and elect one of their number as mayor. The mayor shall be chosen by ballot by majority vote of all members of the municipal council. If the members shall be unable, within five ballots to be taken within 2 days of said organization meeting, to elect a mayor, then the member who in the election for members of the municipal council received the highest vote, in accord with the manner of canvassing the ballots as herein set forth, shall be the mayor. Should such person decline to accept the office, then the person receiving the next highest vote shall be the mayor, and so on, until the office is filled.
Amended by L.1981, c. 379, s. 24, eff. Jan. 1, 1982.
2023 New Jersey Revised Statutes › Title 40 - Municipalities and Counties › Section 40:81-8 - Mayor; powers and duties

40:81-8. Mayor; powers and duties
The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the municipal council and shall have a voice and vote in its proceedings, but shall not have the power of veto. He shall fill vacancies occurring in the trustees of the public library for such terms of offices as are provided by law. All bonds, notes, contracts and written obligations of the municipality shall be executed on its behalf by the mayor or, in the event of his inability to act, by such councilman as the municipal council shall designate to act as mayor during his absence or disability. The powers and duties of the mayor shall be only such as are expressly conferred upon him by this subtitle.