Chapter 078

2015 -- H 5951 Enacted 06/17/2015

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- MAIL BALLOTS

Introduced By: Representatives Craven, and Morin

Date Introduced: March 19, 2015

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 17-20-27 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-20 entitled "Mail

Ballots" is hereby amended to read as follows:

17-20-27. Sealing of ballots and voting list. -- The state board shall, at the completion of

the count of all votes cast at any election, securely store all ballots cast in the election, and after

the certification of the results of the elections, the state board shall place all ballots received from

mail voters together with the certified envelopes containing the ballots in a steel box or package

and shall seal the ballots and envelopes in open meetings of the board by affixing at least four (4)

adhesive labels, and the members of the board shall sign the labels by affixing their signatures in

ink to each of the labels, and thereafter no steel box or package shall upon any pretense be

reopened by any person, except upon order of the general assembly or a court of competent

jurisdiction, but shall be held by the board until the first day of September in the second (2nd)

year after the ballots were cast for twenty-two (22) months , when they may then be destroyed.

The certified copies of the voting lists of mail voters and the applications referred to in § 17-20-

10 shall likewise be safely sealed and kept by the board for the same length of time.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC001971

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