Title 17, Title 17 Title 17

(a) The original registration cards shall be arranged and maintained in alphabetical order by surname for the entire city or town and shall be filed in suitable containers. Any duplicate set of cards shall be maintained at the discretion of the local canvassing authority, subject…

The containers of the original and any duplicate registration cards in the possession of the local board and the keys to the containers shall be kept in the custody of the local board, and these containers shall remain securely locked at all times and shall be opened only by the …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 17-9.1-6, the original and any duplicate registration cards shall be public records and shall be open to public inspection and copying at all reasonable times. (b) Except where confidentiality is otherwise required under other provisions of t…

(a) Change of address within the same city or town. (1) A registered voter who has moved from a residence address within a voting district to another residence address within the same voting district and who has not notified the local board of the change of residence address thir…

(a) A voter may register in a city or town into which he or she has moved whether or not the voter has notified the board of the city or town in which the voter was last registered of the voter’s change of address. The action of registration shall automatically cancel the voter’s…

The secretary of state shall, upon receiving a voter’s new registration, notify the appropriate election official of the newly registered voter’s last place of residence only if it is located outside the state of Rhode Island.

Any registered voter whose name has been changed by marriage or court action shall be entitled to have the change of name recorded on the registration records of the local board, and upon the recording, shall be entitled to vote thereafter under the changed name. The local board …

(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any voter to reregister if he or she is already registered in the city or town in which the voter has his or her residence, as defined in § 17-1-3.1. A voter shall have no more than one voter registration. Any voter who is…

It shall be the duty of the state board to prescribe the style, color, quality, and dimensions of all registration forms, containers, and other equipment required to provide for the permanent registration of voters, and for filing and safekeeping of the registration forms, and it…

Any local board may adopt an alternative form and means for obtaining and retaining duplicative voter registration information which is approved by the state board of elections. The form shall provide for the information required by § 17-9.1-6 and shall be kept in the order speci…

Every person who makes a false affidavit under this chapter shall be guilty of a felony.

The local boards shall not more than once a month, if requested to do so by the state and/or city or town chairperson of any political party, or any state or local office holder or declared candidate for public office, furnish without cost and without unreasonable delay to the ch…

Every person who willfully and without lawful authority destroys, secretes, removes, defaces, alters, tampers, or meddles with the original or any duplicate registration card after any entry has been lawfully made in it, or any official list of registered voters compiled from the…

(a) Whenever any person registers to vote, that person may designate their party affiliation, or that person may designate that they are not affiliated with any political party. The information shall be recorded on a form prescribed by the state board of elections. (b) Any person…

(a) Any person who has designated his or her party affiliation pursuant to § 17-9.1-23 may change the designation on or before the thirtieth day preceding any primary election for which the person is eligible. Whenever any person desires to change his or her party designation, th…

(a) The local board of each city or town shall mail an acknowledgement notice to each newly registered voter and to each voter who changes his or her voting residence within seven (7) days after receipt of the registration or change of residence. The acknowledgement notice shall …

(a)(1) Whenever: (i) An acknowledgement card that was mailed to a voter whose application to register to vote has been accepted is returned as undeliverable; (ii) Through the periodic updating of voter registration records as provided in § 17-9.1-27, a change of address is detect…

(a) Not less than four (4) times within a calendar year, the secretary of state shall update the central voter register using the United States Postal Service National Change of Address (NCOA) Program. The office of the secretary of state shall be responsible for obtaining the NC…

(a) Any elector may challenge the registration of a registered voter by submitting to the local board an affidavit prescribed by the state board of elections in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the board stating that the voter is not eligible to vote and setti…

Every person who willfully and maliciously challenges the registration of a voter without reasonable cause to suspect that the voter is not qualified shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, in addition, be liable to the challenged voter for compensatory and punitive damages a…

(a) The local boards shall open their respective offices for the purposes of receiving registration of voters throughout the year during the regular business hours. Registration for any election shall close on the thirtieth (30th) day preceding an election; provided, that local b…

Notwithstanding any provisions of the general laws to the contrary, all appeals from decisions rendered by the board of canvassers of the various cities and towns regarding the eligibility of a person to vote shall be to the state board of elections.

(a) The state board of elections shall establish a voter registration advisory board, subsequently referred to as the advisory board, to assist in the drafting of regulations and the monitoring of implementation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg e…

Nothing in this title shall be construed to prohibit private voter registration activities in the public areas of state departments and agencies.

(a) Every person who has reached the age of eighteen (18) years or who is seventeen (17) years of age and will be eighteen (18) years of age by the date of the next election, and is otherwise qualified to register may do so for that election. (b) A person who is otherwise qualifi…

(a) The secretary of state shall establish, maintain, and administer a portal for electronic voter registration. An applicant may use such portal to register to vote, or to update existing voter registration information, provided: (1) The applicant’s information is verifiable in …

It shall be the duty of local boards to annually conduct a voter registration drive at each high school within the city or town in cooperation with the administration of the schools. Each principal of every public or private high school and director of each vocational school in t…

(a) The several local boards shall appoint a sufficient number of agents who shall serve throughout each year for the purpose of receiving registrations of persons residing in the city or town in which the agent was appointed to act. The agents shall be sworn to the faithful perf…

The state board of elections shall appoint a sufficient number of agents who shall serve throughout the year to perform the duties assigned to them by § 17-7-5 and any other duties that may be assigned them by the board. Each registrar who performs his or her duties faithfully an…

No registration agent, whether appointed by a local board, by the state board, or empowered by law, shall be authorized to accept registrations outside of the state of Rhode Island, and all the registration agents shall themselves be registered to vote in the state of Rhode Islan…

(a) Registration forms shall consist of the number of sets of cards and of the size and color that shall be determined by the state board of elections, one of which forms shall be designated as the original and any others as duplicates. The forms shall be ruled with appropriate s…

(a) Every person applying at the division of motor vehicles for a driver’s license or a renewal of the license, or personal identification document issued by the division of motor vehicles, and who is or may be by the next general election qualified to vote, shall be registered t…

(a) Every person who is or may be by the next general election qualified to vote may register to vote when being discharged from incarceration or when applying for services or assistance at any of the following offices: (1) Any office in the state that provides public assistance;…

(a) Every person who is or may be by the next general election qualified to vote may register to vote by mail. Mail registration shall be accomplished through the use of the federal mail registration form prescribed by the federal election commission under the National Voter Regi…

(a) Shut-in voters. Every person otherwise duly qualified to vote who by reason of illness or physical or mental disability is unable to register in person at the office of the local board may register to vote by mail. (b) Serviceperson’s dependents. Every person otherwise duly q…