2022 -- S 2258

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LC004133

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- NOMINATION OF PARTY AND INDEPENDENT

CANDIDATES -- DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY AND PRIMARY VOTES

     Introduced By: Senators Raptakis, DiPalma, Murray, Archambault, F Lombardi,
DiMario, and Sosnowski

     Date Introduced: February 11, 2022

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 17-14-1, 17-14-11 and 17-14-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-

14 entitled "Nomination of Party and Independent Candidates" are hereby amended to read as

follows:

     17-14-1. Declarations of candidacy.

     During the last consecutive Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in June April in the even

years and during the thirty-ninth (39th) and fortieth (40th) days preceding a primary election for a

special election, or for an election regularly scheduled for a time other than the biennial general

statewide election, each voter desiring to be a candidate at the upcoming primary or an independent

candidate on final nomination papers shall, on a form that shall be provided by the secretary of

state, file a declaration of his or her candidacy not later than four (4:00) p.m. of the last day for the

filing with the secretary of state for congressional and statewide general offices, or with the local

board of the place of the candidate's voting residence for general assembly, or state committee or

senatorial and representative district committee or with the appropriate local board for local

officers. The declaration shall be signed by the candidate as his or her name appears on the voting

list. The signature shall be accepted as valid if it can be reasonably identified to be the name and

signature of the voter it purports to be. A variation of the voter's signature by the insertion or

omission of identifying titles or by the substitution of initials for the first or middle names of both

shall not in itself be grounds for invalidation of the signature. The declaration shall also include the

following information:

     (1) The candidate's name as it appears on the voting list, subject to the same provisions as

relate to the voter's signature on the declaration;

     (2) The address as it appears on the voting list, provided that an address which is

substantially the same as the address on the voting list shall be valid;

     (3) The party declaration if seeking to run in a party primary;

     (4) The office sought;

     (5) The place and date of birth;

     (6) The length of residence in the state and in the town or city where he or she resides;

     (7) A certification that he or she is neither serving a sentence, including probation or parole,

for which he or she was imprisoned upon final conviction of a felony imposed on any date nor

serving any sentence, whether incarcerated or suspended, on probation or parole, upon final

conviction of a felony committed after November 5, 1986;

     (8) A certification that he or she has not been lawfully adjudicated to be non compos

mentis, of unsound mind;

     (9) In the case of candidates for party nomination, a certification that he or she has not been

a member of a political party other than the declared party within ninety (90) days of the filing date;

and

     (10) If a person is a candidate for a state or local office, a certification that the person has

not within the preceding three (3) years served any sentence, incarcerated or suspended, on

probation or parole, for a crime committed after November 5, 1986, upon a plea of nolo contendere

or guilty or upon a conviction of a felony or for a misdemeanor for which a sentence of

imprisonment for six (6) months or more, whether suspended or to be served as imposed.

     17-14-11. Checking and certification of nomination papers -- Challenge.

     Each nomination paper for party and independent candidates shall be submitted before four

o'clock (4:00) p.m. on the sixtieth (60th) day before the primary to the local board of the city or

town where the signers appear to be voters or, in the case of special elections, on the twenty-eighth

(28th) day before the primary. Nomination papers for independent presidential candidates and

presidential candidates of political parties, other than those defined in § 17-1-2(9), shall be filed

not later than sixty (60) ninety (90) days prior to the general election. Each local board shall

immediately proceed to check signatures on each nomination paper filed with it against the voting

list as last canvassed or published according to law. The local boards shall certify a sufficient

number of names appearing on the nomination papers that are in conformity with the requirements

of § 17-14-8 to qualify the candidate for a position on the ballot, and after considering any challenge

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under this section and, if necessary, certifying any additional valid names, shall immediately file

nomination papers for statewide office, general assembly, and state and district committee

candidates with the secretary of state; provided, that nomination papers for local candidates shall

be retained by the local board. If any candidate or the chairperson of any party committee questions

the validity or authenticity of any signature on the nomination paper, the local board shall

immediately and summarily decide the question, and for this purpose, shall have the same powers

as are conferred upon the board by the provisions of § 17-14-14. If any challenged signature is

found to be invalid, for any reason in law, or forged, then the signature shall not be counted.

     17-14-12. Filing of nomination papers.

     All nomination papers for state offices or officers and all certified lists of candidates for

local offices or officers shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state (the certified lists by the

respective local boards), not later than fifty-four (54) eighty-four (84) days before the date of the

primary held to nominate candidates for general election; but when there is a primary to nominate

candidates for any office mentioned in § 17-15-7 to be voted upon at a special election, all

nomination papers and lists of local candidates shall be filed in the office on or before the twenty-

sixth (26th) day preceding the day of the special primary election. Nomination papers for

independent presidential candidates and presidential candidates of political parties other than those

defined in § 17-1-2(9) shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state by the local boards of

canvassers not later than fifty-four (54) days before the date of the election.

     SECTION 2. Section 17-15-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-15 entitled "Primary

Elections" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-15-1. Date of primaries.

     A primary election for the nomination of candidates for each political party shall be held

in each voting district in the manner provided in this chapter, on the eighth second Tuesday

preceding biennial state elections after the first Monday in September in each even numbered year.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2023.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- NOMINATION OF PARTY AND INDEPENDENT

CANDIDATES -- DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY AND PRIMARY VOTES

***

     This act would set an earlier deadline from June to April for the filing of declaration of

candidacy and nomination papers.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2023.

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