Title 17, Title 17 Title 17

Immediately upon the close of the polls the warden shall, in the presence of the other election or primary election officers and the election inspector, follow the procedure for the closing of the unit set forth by the vendor of the optical scan precinct count unit. The warden an…

(a) The copies of the printout tape from the optical-scan precinct-count unit obtained pursuant to § 17-19-32 shall be distributed as follows: (1) The first copy, which includes the opening of the polling place information, signatures of the warden and clerk, a timed audit trail …

When optical scan precinct count units are used in town elections in towns not divided into voting districts, the warden, after announcing the votes registered by the optical scan precinct count units for the candidates for town offices, and upon questions submitted to the voters…

Under orders of the local board, a police officer shall remain at the voting place until the board, personally or by a custodian, resumes custody of the optical scan precinct count units and voting booths.

The local board shall meet on the day following the election and shall tabulate the town or city election returns, as the case may be, and announce the results, but shall issue no certificates of election until the time for petitions filed under this section has expired and, if a…

The state board shall proceed to tabulate the state election returns and declare the results as provided in chapter 22 of this title, and any candidate at the election challenging the result as applied to him or her may petition the board within seven (7) days after the declarati…

A candidate for election or nomination for election to public office shall be eligible to request a recount of the votes cast in his or her race pursuant to the following: (1) In those races in which a single candidate is elected a candidate who trails the winning candidate may r…

(1) A write-in candidate for election to public office shall be eligible to request a recount of the votes cast in a race: (a) If, following the initial manual count of all irregular ballots, the write-in candidate shall have received a minimum of ten (10) votes or one percent (1…

(1) A person, group or organization of “recognized standing” regarding a ballot question, as determined by the board of elections, may request a recount of the votes cast on the ballot question pursuant to the following: (a) The person, group or organization may request a recount…

(a) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that auditing of election results is necessary to ensure effective election administration and public confidence in the election results. Further, risk-limiting audits provide a more effective manner of conducting au…

After the close of the polls, the local board shall resume custody of the voting equipment until the voting equipment is removed by the state board or its designee. The local board shall take all necessary measures to prevent the voting equipment from being opened, tampered with,…

The state board of elections shall have the right to open any and all voting equipment either before, during or after an election in the presence of the proper election officials of the city or town in which the election is held for the purpose of examining the voting equipment; …

(a) Voted computer ballots that were counted at the state board shall be stored in containers by the state board until the expiration of twenty-two (22) months from the date of election and voted computer ballots that were voted and packaged at a local precinct or counted at the …

(a) For each voting district and for each town not divided into voting districts, at least one precinct count unit shall be prepared and delivered by the state board or its designee. (b) At each voting place, both in cities and in towns, at least one voting booth shall be furnish…

(a) Upon request of a moderator charged with conducting a municipal or regional school district financial meeting, the board of elections will furnish each meeting to be conducted with one computerized voting machine per year, and voting booths and ballots marked “yes” and “no” a…

Any public officer upon whom a duty is imposed by this chapter who willfully neglects to perform that duty, or who performs it in a way as to hinder the objects of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any person, not being an election or primary officer or person upon whom a duty is imposed by this chapter, who, while any voting equipment is being made ready for an election or primary, or is in use during an election or primary, tampers with, disarranges, defaces, injures, or …

Every person who willfully and without lawful authority destroys, secretes, removes, defaces, alters, tampers, or meddles with a sample ballot, shall be guilty of a felony.

Any person having the custody of voting equipment under this chapter, or any election or primary officer, who, with intent to cause or permit any voting equipment to fail to correctly register all votes cast, tampers with, injures, or disarranges the voting equipment in any way, …

Any election or primary officer who, at the close of the polls, purposely causes the vote registered by any optical scan precinct count unit or related voting equipment to be incorrectly recorded or returned as to any candidate, person, or question, or who knowingly consents to t…

Whoever, with intent to defraud a voter of his or her vote, or to cause a voter to lose his or her vote, gives in any way, or prints, writes, circulates, or causes to be written, printed, or circulated, any improper, false, misleading, or incorrect instructions or advice or sugge…

Any unauthorized person who makes a duplicate of, or has in his or her possession, a key to any voting equipment used at any election, or any election officer who keeps one or more keys to the voting equipment and fails or refuses to return them immediately after the election to …

Following the return of the certified voting lists to the local boards, each board shall cause the original registration records to reflect the appropriate voting facts from the immediately preceding election and shall also post the appropriate voting facts set forth in the list …

No poster, paper, circular, or other document designed or tending to aid, injure, or defeat any candidate for public office or any political party on any question submitted to the voters shall be distributed or displayed within the voting place or within fifty (50) feet of the en…

The computer ballots to be used at any election shall be printed and furnished at the expense of the state by the secretary of state and turned over to the state board.

No candidate for any public office shall be permitted to have his or her name appear in more than one place on the ballot for the same office.

At each polling place, one voting booth shall be designated for priority use by electors over sixty-five (65) years of age. These electors, once they have complied with the requirements of § 17-19-24, shall, upon request, be permitted to vote immediately in the designated voting …

Whenever a voter appears at a polling place and that voter has: (1) an obvious medical disability which, in the opinion of the warden, would cause the voter to experience severe discomfort by standing in line, or (2) a certificate from a licensed physician or Christian Science pr…

Nothing contained in the general laws of Rhode Island shall prevent a voter from being accompanied by a child or children who are under the age of eighteen (18) years while the voter is within the voting booth area, provided that the child or children are under the voter’s care a…

(a) Pursuant to Section 203 of the Federal Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973aa-la, a city or town shall be subject to the provisions of the bilingual voting materials requirement whenever the Director of the Census determines, based on census data, that: (1) More than five percen…

In all cases where optical scan precinct count units are to be used for any election, the secretary of state shall prepare a diagram of the computer ballot to be used at the election. The diagram shall determine the manner and order in which the ballot shall be arranged, and the …

In all circumstances where local questions are to be printed on the ballot, they shall be printed on a distinctive colored background. The first question shall be designated by the numeral I, and additional questions shall follow numbered so that all questions submitted to the el…

The local board of each city or town shall certify to the secretary of state, not later than four o’clock (4:00) p.m. of the third (3rd) day following the last day for the holding of the primary held pursuant to the provisions of chapter 15 of this title, preceding any regular ci…

(a) In case of a vote for members of the council or school committee of any city or town, in which the office or offices to be filled are to be elected on an at-large basis, and whether the election is a partisan, nonpartisan, primary, general, or special election, the names for …

In all elections, the names of candidates shall be printed on ballots as they appear on the voting list, notwithstanding that the candidate may have signed his or her declaration of candidacy other than as the candidate’s name appears on the voting list.

All ballots provided under this chapter shall be printed in black ink on clear, white material in plain, clear type. Upon the ballot for questions, the statement of the question may be abbreviated to meet the requirements of the space provided, and shall be printed in type that c…

(a) Any voter who is blind or visually impaired or disabled is eligible to request a special ballot for voting by mail ballot. Special mail ballots are available in braille or tactile format. (b) Requests must be made in writing to the local board of canvassers where the person i…

The office of the secretary of state when implementing the provisions of § 17-19-3 shall specify to the extent reasonably available state-of-the-art voting equipment that can accommodate voters who are blind, visually impaired, or are otherwise disabled, in order to afford all vo…

The emblem of the democratic party shall be the representation of a star. The emblem of the republican party shall be the representation of an eagle. The emblem of any political organization qualifying as a “political party,” as defined in this title, shall be selected by the sta…

In all state elections at which candidates for public office are to be elected, some of whom are candidates of a political party and some of whom are independent candidates as defined in § 17-1-2(4), all independent candidates for the same public office shall be listed on the bal…

The electors of this state who, for any of the reasons set forth in § 17-20-2, being otherwise qualified to vote, shall have the right to vote, in the manner and time provided by this chapter, in all general and special elections and primaries, including presidential primaries in…

Those electors who vote by mail are entitled to vote in a manner which reasonably guarantees the secrecy of their ballots. The procedures set forth in this chapter are designed to promote the effective exercise of their rights while safeguarding those voters who utilize the mail …

(a) Upon receipt of the application, the local board shall immediately examine it and determine whether it complies with each of the requirements set forth by this chapter and compare the signature on the ballot application with the signature contained on the original registratio…

In the event the official ballot is not available for issuance and mailing forty-five (45) days before a general, primary, or special election, persons applying for a mail ballot under subdivision 17-20-2(3) and persons applying for a mail ballot through the use of the Federal Po…

The copies of certified applications and the certified lists returned to the several local boards shall be safely kept in the custody of the boards until the first day of September in the second (2nd) year after the boards have received the lists.

All mail ballots, application forms, certified envelopes for enclosing ballots, any other envelopes that may be necessary, and instructions as to voting, use of ballots, and affidavits, shall be furnished and supplied by the secretary of state for use in mailing application forms…