Section 5. The signatures of the following number of registered voters shall be required to nominate charter commission members in cities or towns having the following number of inhabitants: two hundred such signatures if one hundred thousand or more inhabitants, one hundred such signatures if fifty thousand or more but less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, fifty such signatures if twelve thousand or more but less than fifty thousand inhabitants, twenty-five such signatures if six thousand or more but less than twelve thousand inhabitants and ten such signatures if less than six thousand inhabitants.
The last day for filing certified nomination papers for members of a charter commission with the city or town clerk shall be the thirty-fifth day preceding the date for their election. The manner of signing and the time for presenting nomination papers for certification to the board of registrars of voters, and the manner of and time for certifying the same, shall be governed by section seven of chapter fifty-three. Such nomination papers shall contain information with respect to candidates, except that no party or political designation shall be used, and shall be filed with the city or town clerk by a responsible person and accompanied by the candidate's acceptance, all as provided by and subject to the provisions of sections eight and nine of chapter fifty-three applicable to the nomination of officers for such city or town. Objections to the sufficiency and validity of the signatures on any nomination paper as certified by the board of registrars of voters shall be made and disposed of in the manner provided by sections eleven and twelve of chapter fifty-three, or by special law applicable to the city or town.
Upon application made by any city or town clerk, the state secretary shall provide him with blank forms for the nomination of charter commission members in such city or town. The city and town clerks shall supply such forms only to candidates or to persons authorized in writing by a candidate to obtain said forms in his behalf. One copy of a voting list shall be furnished to each candidate by the city or town clerk upon request. Except as provided in this section, the provisions of sections one to twelve, inclusive, and section seventeen of chapter fifty-three shall not apply to the nomination of charter commission members.