Voting in Rhode Island

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Voting policies are enacted and enforced primarily at the state level. These policies, which include voter identification requirements, early voting provisions, online voter registration systems, and more, dictate the conditions under which American citizens cast their ballots in their individual states.

THE BASICS
  • Rhode Island does not permit no-excuse absentee voting. The state does permit online voter registration and early voting.
  • Rhode Island voters are required to present valid photo identification at the polls.
    • DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    This page includes the following:


    See Election governance in Rhode Island for more detailed information about election and voting policy in the state, including voter list maintenance policies, provisional ballot rules, and post-election auditing practices.

    Voter registration

    To register to vote in Rhode Island, an applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Rhode Island, and at least 16 years old. Prospective voters must be at least 18 years old by the day of the election to vote.[2] The deadline to register to vote is 30 days prior to an election. Applicants can register online, by mailing in a voter registration form, or in person at the local board of canvassers, the board of elections, or other state agencies such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Mental Health.[3]

    Automatic registration

    Rhode Island enacted automatic voter registration in 2017.[4]

    Online registration

    See also: Online voter registration

    Rhode Island has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

    Same-day registration

    Rhode Island only allows same-day voter registration for voting in presidential elections.[3]

    Residency requirements

    To register to vote in Rhode Island, you must be a resident of the state.

    Verification of citizenship

    See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

    Rhode Island does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

    Verifying your registration

    The Rhode Island Department of State allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.


    Voting in elections

    File:Barack Obama votes in the 2012 election.jpg
    President Barack Obama and others casting their ballots in 2012

    Voter identification

    See also: Voter identification laws by state

    Rhode Island requires voters to present photo identification while voting.[5]

    Voters can present the following forms of identification:

    • Rhode Island driver's license/permit
    • U.S. passport
    • ID card issued by any federally recognized tribal government
    • ID card issued by an educational institution in the United States
    • U.S. military identification card
    • ID card issued by the U.S. government or State of Rhode Island (RIPTA bus pass, etc.)
    • Government-issued medical card
    • Rhode Island Voter ID card

    Voters without a photo ID can obtain one for free from the Rhode Island Department of State. In order to receive a voter ID card, the voter must provide one of the following proofs of identity:

    • Employee ID card
    • ID card provided by a commercial establishment
    • Credit or debit card
    • Military ID card
    • Student ID card
    • Health Club ID card
    • Insurance Plan ID card
    • Public Housing ID card

    Voters without one of the above documents must bring one of the following documents that include the voter’s name and a date:


    To apply for a Rhode Island Voter ID, visit the Rhode Island Department of State’s Elections Division Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 148 W. River St. in Providence.

    Background

    As of April 2021, 35 states enforced (or were scheduled to begin enforcing) voter identification requirements. A total of 21 states required voters to present photo identification at the polls; the remainder accepted other forms of identification. Valid forms of identification differ by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.[7][8]


    Poll times

    See also: State poll opening and closing times

    In Rhode Island, most polls open at 7 a.m. Eastern Time and all polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. While polls across Rhode Island open at 7 a.m. Eastern Time during a general election, polls in certain municipalities open earlier or later for primary or special elections. All polls statewide close at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.[9]

    Primary election type

    See also: Primary elections in Rhode Island

    A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Rhode Island utilizes a semi-closed primary system. Unaffiliated voters may vote in a party's primary, but they will then be considered affiliated with that party. In order to disaffiliate, they must file a "Change of Party Designation" form.[10][11][12][13]

    Absentee voting

    See also: Absentee voting

    Only certain voters are eligible to vote absentee in Rhode Island:

    “
    1. A voter with the state of Rhode Island who is incapacitated to the extent that it would be an undue hardship to vote at the polls because of illness, or mental or physical disability, blindness, or serious impairment of mobility.
    2. An elector who is confined to any hospital, convalescent home, nursing home, rest home, or similar institution, public or private, within the state of Rhode Island.
    3. An elector who will be temporarily absent from the State because of employment or service intimately connected with military operations or who is a spouse or legal dependent residing with that person, or a United States citizen that will be outside of the United States.
    4. An elector who may not be able to vote at his or her polling place in his or her city or town on the day of the election.[14][6]
    		 ”


    Absentee ballot applications must be received by local election officials at least 21 days prior to an election. A completed absentee ballot must then be received by the state board of elections by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Should circumstances arise within 20 days of an election that will prevent a voter from making it to the polls on Election Day, he or she can apply for an emergency mail ballot. More information regarding the emergency mail ballot process can be found here.[14][15][16]

    Early voting

    See also: Early voting

    Rhode Island permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

    As of April 2021, 38 states and the District of Columbia permitted early voting. Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on election day. States that do not permit early voting still permit some or all citizens to vote early by mail—often known as absentee voting. Some states allow no-excuse absentee voting, while others require an excuse. States that allow in-person absentee voting without an excuse are counted among early voting states. Click here for early voting laws by state.[17]

    Convicted felons' voting rights

    See also: Voting rights for convicted felons

    In Rhode Island, individuals convicted of a felony lose their right to vote while incarcerated. Upon completion of their prison sentence, they can have their voting rights restored by either notifying their local board of canvassers in writing or by submitting a new voter registration form. Click here for a list of local boards of canvassers.[18]

    Voting rights for convicted felons vary from state to state. In the majority of states, convicted felons cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[19][20]


    Election administration costs

    National Conference of State Legislatures report, 2018

    On February 14, 2018, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released a report on the costs of election administration in the states: "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections." The report's authors noted that "no one knows how much [states] spend on elections ... [because] good research on election costs is slim." Generally, local units of government (most often counties, but sometimes cities and towns) are primarily responsible for election administration costs, though states and the federal government may also contribute. The report identified the states listed in the table below as assuming financial responsibility for at least some aspects of election administration.[21]

    To access the complete NCSL report, click here.

    Election administration costs assumed by state
    State pays all expenses for federal or state elections State bears a portion of election costs State pays for statewide special elections or statewide elections that don’t coincide with regularly scheduled elections State pays for primary elections (statewide, presidential, or both)
    Alaska
    Delaware     		Alabama
    Colorado
    Hawaii
    Kentucky
    Louisiana
    Rhode Island     		Arkansas
    Florida
    Iowa
    Michigan
    Missouri
    New Jersey
    North Dakota
    Ohio
    Oregon
    Pennsylvania
    Tennessee
    Washington
    West Virginia     		Arizona
    Arkansas
    Idaho
    Kansas
    Michigan
    Minnesota
    Missouri
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    Texas
    Virginia
    Washington
    Note: If a state is not listed above, it was not included in the report.
    Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections," February 14, 2018

    Election agencies

    File:US-ElectionAssistanceCommission-Seal.svg
    Seal of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission
    See also: State election agencies

    Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in Rhode Island can contact the following state and federal agencies.

    Rhode Island Secretary of State, Elections Division

    148 West River Street
    Providence, Rhode Island 02904-2615
    Telephone: 401-222-2340
    Email: elections@sos.ri.gov

    U.S. Election Assistance Commission

    1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300
    Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
    Telephone: 866-747-1471

    Noteworthy events

    2017

    On July 19, 2017, Governor Gina Raimondo (D) signed into law H5702, making Rhode Island the ninth state to adopt automatic voter registration. H5702 cleared the Rhode Island House of Representatives on May 31, 2017, by a vote of 62-10 (with three members not voting). The Rhode Island State Senate approved H5702 on June 30, 2017, by a vote of 27-5 (with five members not voting). The law established that Rhode Island citizens be automatically registered to vote when they visit Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) branches for driver's license or personal identification document applications or renewals. The law was scheduled to take effect 30 days after the director of the DMV certified to state lawmakers that the state's motor vehicle licensing system could meet the requirements established by the law.[22][23][24]

    Election policy ballot measures

    See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Rhode Island ballot measures

    Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in Rhode Island.

    1. Rhode Island Four Year Terms, Proposal 4 (1982)
    2. Rhode Island Four Year Terms, Proposal 6 (1973)
    3. Rhode Island Judicial Power, Proposal 1 (1952)
    4. Rhode Island Judicial Power, Proposal 1 (1954)
    5. Rhode Island Qualification of Electors—Narragansett Indians, Proposal 1 (1950)
    6. Rhode Island Qualification of Electors—Servicemen Exempt, Proposal 5 (1950)
    7. Rhode Island Qualifications and Registration of Voters, Proposal 14 (1972)
    8. Rhode Island Qualifications for Office, Proposal 2 (1973)
    9. Rhode Island Question 2, Restoration of Voting Rights Act (2006)
    10. Rhode Island Suffrage, Proposal 1 (1973)
    11. Rhode Island Suffrage, Proposal 2 (1984)

    Election policy legislation

    The following is a list of recent election bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Rhode Island state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

    Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

    Recent news

    The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Rhode Island voting. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

    Voting in Rhode Island - Google News

    See also

    Elections in Rhode Island

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ We use the term "absentee/mail-in voting" to describe systems in which requests or applications are required. We use the term "all-mail voting" to denote systems where the ballots themselves are sent automatically to all voters. We use the hyphenate term for absentee voting because some states use “mail voting” (or a similar alternative) to describe what has traditionally been called "absentee voting."
    2. ↑ Rhode Island Department of State, "Register to Vote," accessed October 5, 2019
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 State of Rhode Island Board of Elections, “Frequently Asked Questions,” accessed October 5, 2019
    4. ↑ Providence Journal, “Raimondo signs automatic voter registration bill into law,” August 1, 2017
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rhode Island Secretary of State, "Vote at the Polls," accessed October 7, 2019
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    7. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Identification Requirements|Voter ID Laws," June 5, 2017
    8. ↑ The Washington Post, "Do I need an ID to vote? A look at the laws in all 50 states," October 27, 2014
    9. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "General Election Polling Place Hours," accessed October 17, 2019
    10. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed October 25, 2019
    11. ↑ FairVote, "Primaries," accessed October 25, 2019
    12. ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
    13. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections Website, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed November 14, 2019
    14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Rhode Island Department of State, "Vote by mail," accessed October 15, 2019
    15. ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "How do I apply for a Mail Ballot?" accessed October 15, 2019
    16. ↑ Rhode Island Department of State, "Vote by Emergency Mail Ballot," accessed May 10, 2019
    17. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Laws Governing Early Voting," August 2, 2019
    18. ↑ Rhode Island Department of State, "Register to Vote," accessed December 12, 2019
    19. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," accessed July 15, 2014
    20. ↑ American Civil Liberties Union, "State Criminal Re-enfranchisement Laws," accessed September 13, 2019
    21. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "The Price of Democracy: Splitting the Bill for Elections," February 14, 2018
    22. ↑ Rhode Island General Assembly, "H 5702," accessed July 20, 2017
    23. ↑ The Hill, "Rhode Island becomes ninth state to enact automatic voter registration," July 19, 2017
    24. ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Governor OKs Rhode Island Automatic Voter Registration Bill," July 19, 2017
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