Billerica Charter Panel Votes 6-5 to Simplify Referendum Ballot Threshold

BILLERICA — April 8, 2026 — Billerica's Charter Review Committee voted 6-5 Wednesday to change how citizen referendum questions are decided at the ballot box, shifting from a supermajority standard matching town meeting thresholds to a simple majority of voters turning out. The change to Section 2-13 of the Home Rule Charter, championed by committee member Josh, would also reframe referendum ballot questions as up-or-down endorsements of town meeting actions rather than re-litigations of the original vote. The committee debated whether the change made it harder or easier to overturn a two-thirds bonding vote, with Josh arguing that with roughly 32,000 registered voters and a 20 percent participation floor, a simple majority of the roughly 6,400 minimum voters — about 3,200 — is a higher absolute bar than it may appear, and that state law still requires a two-thirds town meeting vote for bonding regardless. The committee also unanimously approved changes to recall procedures for both elected officials and appointed committee members, including a new two-year bar on office-holding for anyone removed by recall, and a restriction limiting referendum petitions to affirmatively passed town meeting votes only — a gap flagged by town counsel's written review.