Title 17, Title 17 Title 17

(a) All objections to nomination papers which are required to be filed with the secretary of state shall be considered by the state board. The secretary of state shall, when requested by the state board, immediately deliver to the board the nomination papers to which objection ha…

A person nominated as a candidate to be voted for at a primary or an independent candidate may withdraw his or her name from the nomination prior to the date of primary by a request signed and duly acknowledged by him or her setting forth the reason for the withdrawal, that the w…

Following the determination of objections, if any, to the nomination papers, the state board or local board shall immediately certify to the secretary of state the names and addresses of all candidates who have filed valid nomination papers.

When an endorsed nominee as a candidate to be voted upon at any primary has deceased prior to the holding of the primary, the committee having the original authority to endorse the candidate shall substitute as the endorsed nominee for candidate to be voted upon at the primary an…

(a) No person shall be eligible to file a declaration of candidacy, or be eligible to be a candidate or be eligible to be voted for or to be nominated or elected in a party primary unless the person, at the time of filing the declaration, is qualified to vote in a primary within …

No person who has filed a declaration of candidacy as an independent candidate pursuant to § 17-14-1 for an office for which a party candidate may be nominated pursuant to this chapter shall be eligible to file a declaration of candidacy as a party candidate for the same office o…

(a) Upon receipt of the declarations referred to in § 17-14-1, within two (2) business days of the final date for filing endorsements, the secretary of state for statewide candidates and the local board for general assembly and local candidates shall prepare nomination papers for…

In the case of endorsed candidates for membership on all party committees, including state, town, city, district, or ward committees, nomination papers shall not be necessary. In this case, the filing of the endorsed slate of candidates by the particular committee shall be suffic…

At the head of the space on the nomination papers where voters are to endorse their approval of the candidates shall be printed the following: “Each of the signers of this paper by so signing severally certifies that he or she is a voter in the area from and for which the endorse…

(a) United States senator or governor. The nomination papers of a candidate for the party nomination or an independent candidate for presidential elector, United States senator, or governor shall be signed, in the aggregate, by at least one thousand (1,000) voters. Notwithstandin…

Not all endorsers of a candidate need sign on the same nomination papers, but endorsers who are voters in different cities and towns shall not sign the same sheet. Every voter signing a nomination paper shall sign in person with his or her name, place of residence, and street num…

A voter may sign any number of nomination papers for any office the voter may lawfully vote for at the general election.

A primary election for the nomination of candidates for each political party shall be held in each voting district in the manner provided in this chapter on the eighth Tuesday preceding biennial state elections.

Whenever there is no contest within any voting district for the officers to be nominated or elected by a particular political party for any election, no primary election shall be held in that voting district and the secretary of state for state offices or the local boards for loc…

Whenever there is a contest within any voting district, a primary election shall be held in the voting district and the names of all candidates for state office and the names of only those candidates for local office that are contesting a particular local office or offices shall …

(a) From lists submitted to it by the chairperson of the state committees of each party, the board shall appoint and issue commissions to a sufficient number of qualified electors of this state to be primary inspectors so that one inspector may be assigned for each party to each …

(a) Each warden or moderator and each primary supervisor appointed under the provisions of §§ 17-15-13 and 17-15-16 shall be able to read the Constitution of the state in the English language, and to write his or her name, and shall, whenever possible, be a voter of the senatoria…

Primary wardens, moderators, clerks, and supervisors shall have the same powers and duties in the conduct of primary elections as are conferred and imposed by law upon general election officials, and they shall receive the same compensation as general election officials.

Vacancies occurring among primary officials shall be immediately filled by the local boards in the same manner as provided for general elections as qualified by § 17-15-13; provided, that in the event there are no lists available, the local board shall appoint some person or pers…

At least eight (8) days before the time of holding any primary election, the local board shall cause notice of the primary to be posted in at least one public place in each voting district of any city, and in at least one public place in each voting district of a town. The notice…

(a) The apportionment of voting booths for the primary election of each political party shall, as far as possible, be on the same basis as for general elections, except that the determination shall be made with reference to the average number of votes received by the candidates o…

The primary election voting places shall be equipped by the local boards with the paraphernalia necessary for conducting elections and, except as otherwise specifically provided in chapters 12 — 15 of this title, the voting places shall be arranged wherever practicable in the man…

In the event that the date for the holding of any primary election preceding any general state or municipal election as provided in this chapter falls upon the day of a religious holiday, the primary shall be held upon the next business day, other than Saturday, then following; p…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, primary elections shall be conducted as nearly as may be in the manner provided in chapter 19 of this title for the conducting of general elections, except that the voting in each party shall be cast on separate computer ballots.

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the procedure for the primary elections in the city of East Providence in the calendar year 2002 shall be conducted as follows: (1) On September 10, 2002, there shall be a primary election in the city of East Providence to…

Before permitting any person to vote in a primary election, the warden or clerk and bipartisan pair of supervisors assigned by the warden shall ascertain from the voting record appearing on the certified voting list that the voter is not disqualified to vote by the provisions of …

The local board shall, by written rule, provide for the presence of party checkers to be seated outside the rail next to the warden to make a list of those who vote and for the distribution of lists or memoranda to the proper representatives or candidates or groups of candidates.…

No person shall be debarred from voting in a party primary solely because of that person’s signing of nomination papers of a candidate to be voted for at any primary. A person having designated their party affiliation as set forth in chapter 9.1 of this title shall be deemed to h…

Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, every qualified elector shall be eligible to sign nomination papers for candidates for delegates to any constitutional convention. The signing of nomination papers for candidates for delegates to any constitutional convention shall …

Whenever the identity of any person offering to vote is challenged at the polling place, that person shall be permitted to vote only by using a provisional ballot as defined in § 17-19-24.1.

The primary officials shall treat all candidates with absolute impartiality. No sound equipment advocating the election or defeat of any candidate or the approval or disapproval of any referenda shall be allowed within five hundred (500) feet of any polling place.

In determining the nomination or election of a candidate at a primary election, the person receiving the largest number of votes, although less than a majority of all the votes cast for the candidates for a particular office, shall be declared nominated or elected. Where there is…

Party primary elections shall also be held for the purpose of nominating candidates for an office or offices to be elected at any special election. In the event of a special election, the state board shall fix the date or dates on which the various party primary elections shall b…

(a) The local board shall meet on the day following the primary election and shall tabulate the city or town primary returns, as the case may be, and announce the results, but shall issue no certificates of nomination or election to party office until the expiration of the period…

The state board shall proceed to tabulate the state primary returns and announce the results, but shall issue no certificates of nomination until the expiration of the period in which a recount may be requested as provided in § 17-15-34 has expired and, if a request has been file…

If there is a failure to make a nomination or to elect a candidate to party office at any primary by reason of a tie vote, the vacancy, if in respect to an office to be filled by the voters of more than one city or town, shall be filled by the executive committee of the state com…

Any candidate whose name was on the primary ballot may file with the state board a request for the recounting of the votes cast, or other protest concerning the primary, provided he or she files the request or protest no later than four o’clock (4:00) p.m. on the day following th…

(a) Immediately upon the filing of a protest or request, the state board shall cause notice in writing to be served in any manner that it directs, at the expense of the petitioner, upon all other candidates of the same political party for the same office receiving votes at the pr…

(a) Whenever the nominee of a party for a particular office dies after the primary, or removes him or herself from the jurisdiction of or as a candidate for the office for which the nominee seeks election, or becomes physically or mentally disabled, the state committee of that pa…

All declarations of candidacy, nomination papers, and all requests for withdrawal of names of candidates, whether before or after the holding of a primary, when filed, and all protests and requests for recounts, shall be open, under proper regulation, to public inspection, and th…

In those cities and towns that now by law hold elections for city or town officers on a day other than the Tuesday after the first Monday in November biennially in each even year, a primary election for the nomination of the city or town officials shall be held and the local boar…

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, this chapter shall not be construed to prevent the nominations of candidates by individual voters in accordance with the provisions of chapter 16 of this title.

All nonpartisan school district caucuses, specially provided for by statute, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to exempt any caucuses for nomination of members of school committees from the provisions of chap…

All political party primaries shall be construed to be “elections” as defined in this title, and all the provisions of this title shall, insofar as consistent with the provisions of this chapter, apply to all political party primaries.

The state board shall have power to make any rules that it deems designed to promote the objects and purposes of chapters 12 — 15 of this title, and shall annually report to the general assembly, in writing, the amendments it recommends should be made to these chapters.

Local boards shall have the power to combine two (2) or more voting districts within the same ward, and senatorial or representative district, if applicable. The local board may by unanimous vote make such designation for any primary, special primary, or presidential preference p…