2020 -- S 2600 | |
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LC005042 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- NOMINATION OF PARTY AND INDEPENDENT | |
CANDIDATES | |
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Introduced By: Senator Erin Lynch Prata | |
Date Introduced: February 25, 2020 | |
Referred To: Senate Judiciary | |
(Board of Elections) | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Chapter 17-14 of the General Laws entitled "Nomination of Party and |
2 | Independent Candidates" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: |
3 | 17-14-18. Declaration of intent of write-in candidacy. |
4 | (a) No later than four o'clock (4:00) p.m. on the first Friday preceding any presidential |
5 | preference primary or general election or election regularly scheduled for a time other than the |
6 | biennial general statewide election, each voter seeking to be a write-in candidate at the upcoming |
7 | election shall, on a form that shall be provided by the secretary of state, file a declaration of his or |
8 | her intent of write-in candidacy for a federal, state, or local office appearing on the ballot. The |
9 | declaration of intent shall be signed by the candidate as his or her name appears on the voting list. |
10 | The signature shall be accepted as valid if it is original and can be reasonably identified to be the |
11 | name and signature of the voter it purports to be. A variation of the voter's signature by the insertion |
12 | or omission of identifying titles or by the substitution of initials for the first or middle names of |
13 | both shall not in itself be grounds for invalidation of the signature. The declaration shall also include |
14 | the following information: |
15 | (1) The candidate's name as it appears on the voting list, subject to the same provisions as |
16 | relate to the voter's signature on the declaration; |
17 | (2) The address as it appears on the voting list, provided that an address which is |
18 | substantially the same as the address on the voting list shall be valid; |
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1 | (3) The office sought; |
2 | (4) The place and date of birth; |
3 | (5) The length of residence in the state and in the town or city where he or she resides; |
4 | (6) A certification that he or she is neither serving a sentence, including probation or parole, |
5 | for which he or she was imprisoned upon final conviction of a felony imposed on any date nor |
6 | serving any sentence, whether incarcerated or suspended, on probation or parole, upon final |
7 | conviction of a felony committed after November 5, 1986; |
8 | (7) A certification that he or she has not been lawfully adjudicated to be non compos |
9 | mentis, of unsound mind; |
10 | (8) If a person is a candidate for a state or local office, a certification that the person has |
11 | not within the preceding three (3) years, served any sentence, incarcerated or suspended, on |
12 | probation or parole, for a crime committed after November 5, 1986, upon a plea of nolo contendere |
13 | or guilty or upon a conviction of a felony or for a misdemeanor for which a sentence of |
14 | imprisonment for six (6) months or more, whether suspended or to be served as imposed. |
15 | SECTION 2. Section 17-19-31 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-19 entitled "Conduct of |
16 | Election and Voting Equipment, and Supplies" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
17 | 17-19-31. Irregular ballots. |
18 | Ballots voted for any office in which no candidate appears on the ballot for that office, or |
19 | in any other office for any person whose name does not appear on the ballot as a nominated |
20 | candidate for office and who has been duly qualified under the requirements of § 17-14-18 are |
21 | referred to in this section as "irregular ballots". In voting for presidential electors, a voter may vote |
22 | an irregular ticket made up of the names of persons in nomination by different parties; or partly of |
23 | names of persons in nomination and partly of names of persons not in nomination; or wholly of |
24 | names of persons not in nomination by any party. Scanned images of the computer ballot containing |
25 | the irregular ballot shall be stored digitally on physical electronic media in the optical-scan |
26 | precinct-count unit. With that exception, no irregular ballot shall be voted for any person for any |
27 | office whose name appears on the ballot as a nominated candidate for that office nor shall any |
28 | irregular ballot be voted for any person who has not been duly qualified under the requirements of |
29 | § 17-14-18, unless said vote is cast for an office in which no candidate appears on the ballot for |
30 | that office; any irregular ballot so voted shall not be counted. An irregular ballot must be cast in its |
31 | appropriate place on the ballot, or it shall be void and not counted and no irregular ballots shall be |
32 | counted at primaries; provided, that at any presidential primary, irregular ballots shall be counted |
33 | for those persons whose names have been written in for the office of president. At the close of the |
34 | polls, irregular ballots shall be packaged according to § 17-19-33 and shall be immediately |
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1 | delivered to the local board of canvassers. The local board shall receive the tape from the optical |
2 | precinct-count unit containing printed images of each written name on the irregular ballots, or the |
3 | physical electronic media containing images of the irregular ballots and shall only record all write- |
4 | in votes cast for persons meeting the requirements of this section for all federal, state, and local |
5 | races listed on the tape. The local board shall notify the state board of the results through a |
6 | procedure promulgated by the state board. |
7 | SECTION 3. Section 17-22-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-22 entitled "Tabulation |
8 | and Certification of Returns by State Board" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
9 | 17-22-7. Books of record of votes -- Contents. |
10 | (a) The board shall keep separate books of record of the votes cast for the different classes |
11 | of officers which it is its duty to count, canvass, and tabulate, as follows: |
12 | (1) A book of record of votes cast for electors of president and vice-president; |
13 | (2) A book of record of votes cast for senators and representatives in congress; |
14 | (3) A book of record of votes cast for general officers; and |
15 | (4) A book of record of the votes cast for each class of officers that may by law |
16 | subsequently be required to be counted, canvassed, and tabulated by the board. |
17 | (b) Each of the respective books shall contain: |
18 | (1) A record of the number of votes cast in each voting district for each candidate according |
19 | to the counting, canvassing, and tabulating of the board; |
20 | (2) The number cast in each voting district for each candidate according to the certificates |
21 | of the moderators or wardens and clerks; |
22 | (3) The total number cast for each candidate in each town and city according to the counting |
23 | and to the certificates; |
24 | (4) The total number cast for each candidate in the state or congressional district, as the |
25 | case may be, according to the counting and the certificates; |
26 | (5) A statement of which candidates are elected; and |
27 | (6) Any other pertinent facts that the board deems proper. |
28 | (c) The board shall also keep a book of record of the votes cast for and against any |
29 | proposition of amendment of the Constitution and a book of record of the votes cast for and against |
30 | all questions submitted to the electors of the state, with like detail as provided in this section in |
31 | relation to votes cast for officers. |
32 | (d) Notwithstanding the above, the state board shall report all write-in votes received by |
33 | persons, qualifying as write-in candidates pursuant to the requirements of § 17-19-31 and not |
34 | otherwise qualifying to appear on the ballot and receiving less than five (5) votes in a race, as a |
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1 | composite total of all write-in votes cast for said office. |
2 | SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC005042 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- NOMINATION OF PARTY AND INDEPENDENT | |
CANDIDATES | |
*** | |
1 | This act would require candidates seeking to be elected by write-in ballot, to file a |
2 | declaration of intent of a write-in candidacy, prior to the election. It would also require the tallying |
3 | of write-in votes only for contests in which no candidate appears on the ballots and for candidates |
4 | meeting the declaration requirements. |
5 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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