Title 17, Title 17 Title 17

(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…

This chapter may be cited as the “Rhode Island Restoration of Voting Rights Act.”

(a) Findings. The legislature finds that: (1) Voting is both a fundamental right and a civic duty. Restoring the right to vote strengthens our democracy by increasing voter participation and helps people who have completed their incarceration to reintegrate into society. Voting i…

(a) A person who has lost the right of suffrage under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of Rhode Island because of such person’s incarceration upon a felony conviction shall be restored the right to vote when that person is discharged from incarceration. (b) Before accept…

(a) A primary election for the election of delegates to the national convention for each political party shall be held in the manner provided in this chapter on the fourth Tuesday in April 2012, and every fourth year thereafter. (b) Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a)…

Vacancies shall be filled in the delegation by the alternates in the order of their plurality and in accordance with the rules of the political party.

(a) The order on the ballot, subject to final determination of any objections filed with the board of elections and the removal of said individual(s) by the secretary of state post-lot, of the presidential nominees and delegates and the uncommitted delegates shall be chosen by lo…

For the purposes of this chapter the following terms have the meaning indicated as follows: (1) “Political party” is defined as provided in § 17-1-2(9). (2) “Uncommitted” means a candidate for delegate not approved by, obligated, or committed to any particular presidential conten…

(a) Upon application, the state board of elections shall conduct a recount for a presidential candidate or delegate for a winning candidate when there is a two hundred (200) or less vote difference between the losing candidate or delegate and the winner. Said recount shall be con…

The state chairperson of each political party shall, on or before the first Tuesday in January of each year a primary is to be held pursuant to this chapter, file with the secretary of state a certified copy of the complete rules of the political party including, but not limited …

The appropriate provisions of this title shall apply to the primaries held under the provisions of this chapter, unless clearly inconsistent with this chapter.

At each primary there shall be elected for each congressional district of this state the number of delegates and alternates that shall be determined by the national committee of the party and certified to the secretary of state not later than the first Tuesday in January precedin…

During the sixty-first (61st) and sixty-second (62nd) day preceding a primary for election of delegates to a national convention, each voter desiring to be a delegate at the forthcoming convention shall, on the form that shall be provided by the secretary of state, sign his or he…

(a) Any person seeking the endorsement of a national political party for which a primary is being held shall, during the ninety-fourth (94th) through and including the ninety-sixth (96th) day preceding the presidential preference primary being held, provide written notification t…

Upon receipt of the declaration referred to in § 17-12.1-3, the secretary of state shall prepare nomination papers for each candidate who has qualified, clearly marked with the candidate’s name and the office the candidate seeks, and shall, by four o’clock (4:00) p.m. on the next…

The nomination papers of a candidate for delegate to a national convention shall be signed, in the aggregate, by at least one hundred fifty (150) eligible voters.

(a) Each nomination paper of a candidate for delegate shall be submitted on or before four o’clock (4:00) p.m. in the afternoon of the fifty-sixth (56th) day before the presidential preference primary to the local board of the city or town where the signers appear to be voters, a…

(a) On the same date and at the same time as the election of delegates to national conventions, as provided in § 17-12.1-1, there shall be held a presidential preference primary for each political party at which each party voter shall have the opportunity to vote his or her prefe…

Each voter shall vote, within that voter’s party primary, for the presidential nominees of that voter’s choice or may express that voter’s choice for no nominee in a space provided and designated “uncommitted” and for any or all of the number of elected delegates allocated to Rho…

This chapter is enacted pursuant to Public Law 94-203, passed by the congress of the United States and approved on January 2, 1976, and applies to all federal elections to select, nominate, and/or elect candidates for president, vice-president, presidential electors, members of t…

(a) Any person otherwise qualified pursuant to this title who is a citizen of the United States and is absent from this state and residing outside the United States shall have the right to register absentee and vote by an absentee ballot in any federal election in this state in a…

Any “ballot question advocate”, as defined in chapter 25.2 of title 17, advocating the passage or defeat of any gambling question shall, in addition to complying with and being subject to the provisions of chapter 25.2 of title 17, include in its reports filed under said chapter …

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Rhode Island Ballot Question Advocacy and Reporting Act”.

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof shall for any reason be judged invalid, that judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of the law, but shall be confined in its effect to the provisions or application directly involved in the controv…

It is declared to be in the public interest and to be the policy of the state to foster greater participation in ballot question advocacy in a transparent and open manner and to provide the public with sufficient information regarding the source of contributions received and expe…

As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context: (1) “Ballot question” means any question, charter change, constitutional amendment, referendum or voter initiated petition placed on any state, district, city, town or municipal ballot for a gen…

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to limit the amount of monies contributed to or expended by a ballot-question advocate for the purpose of ballot-question advocacy.

(a) Every ballot-question advocate shall file periodic reports signed by an individual responsible for its contents on a form prescribed by the board of elections setting forth the name and address of the ballot-question advocate, including any other name under which the ballot-q…

(a) At the time of the filing of the final report required by subsection 17-25.2-5(c), any contributions received for ballot question advocacy and remaining with a ballot question advocate that exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) and have not been expended shall be disbursed in …