2022 -- S 2635

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LC004365

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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 -- MAIL BALLOTS--VOTING

     Introduced By: Senators Kallman, Miller, Burke, Bell, Acosta, McCaffrey, Coyne,
Quezada, Euer, and Archambault

     Date Introduced: March 10, 2022

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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

Provisions" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-1-2. Definitions.

     For the purposes this title, except as may otherwise be required by the context:

     (1) "Election" means the filling of any public office or the determination of any public

question by vote of the electorate, and includes without limitation any state, town, or city office or

question, and any political party primary election for the nomination of any candidate for public

office; except that it shall not include a financial town meeting or a meeting to elect officers of a

fire, water, or sewer district;

     (2) "General election" means an election held on the first Tuesday next after the first

Monday in November in even numbered years for the election of members of the general assembly

and/or for the election of general officers, and/or for the election of presidential electors for

president/vice-president of the United States;

     (3) "General officer" means an officer designated as a general officer by chapter 2 of this

title;

     (4) "Independent candidate" means a candidate who has no affiliation with any political

party;

     (5) "Local board" means a town or city board of canvassers, board of canvassers and

registration, canvassing authority, or any other local board, commission, or officer empowered by

law to have custody of the permanent registration records;

     (6) "Local election" means any election limited to the electorate of any city or town, or any

part, at which any city, town, ward, or district officers are to be chosen, or any elective meeting at

which a question is to be submitted to the voters of a city, town, or any subdivision of a city or

town, but it shall not include a financial town meeting;

     (7) "Party member" means any person who is a member of a designated political party

pursuant to § 17-9.1-23;

     (8) "Party voter" means any qualified voter who is eligible to vote at the primary election

of a political party;

     (9) "Political party" or "party" means: (i) any political organization which, at the next

preceding general election for the election of general officers, nominated a candidate for governor,

and whose candidate for governor at the election polled at least five percent (5%) of the entire vote

cast in the state for governor, or (ii) any political organization which at the next preceding general

election for the election of a president of the United States nominated a candidate for president and

whose candidate for president at the election polled at least five percent (5%) of the entire vote cast

in the state for president, or (iii) any political organization which, on petition forms provided to the

chairperson of the organization by the state board of elections, obtains the signatures and addresses

of that number of registered qualified voters equal to five percent (5%) of the entire vote cast in the

state for governor or president in the immediately preceding general election. All the signatures

must be obtained no earlier than January 1 of the year in which the political organization desires to

place a candidate or candidates on any ballot as a "party" candidate. If the political organization

wishes to select its nominees in a primary election, the petitions, bearing the requisite number of

valid signatures, shall be presented to the appropriate local boards of canvassers no later than June

1 of the same year. If the petitions are validated by the local boards as containing the requisite

number of valid signatures, the political organization shall be deemed to be a political party for all

elections held during the year and may select its nominees in a primary election. If the political

organization does not wish to select its nominees in a primary election, then the petitions need not

be returned to local boards of canvassers until August 1 of the same year. An organization

qualifying as a political party through the petition process shall qualify as a political party only

during the year in which signatures are obtained unless the candidates for governor or president of

the United States of the party at a general election held in the year, shall receive five percent (5%)

of the vote as provided in this subdivision for either governor or president of the United States. If

the candidates do not receive five percent (5%) of the vote, the organization shall no longer qualify

as a political party unless and until it shall, in a subsequent year, once again qualify by the

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submission of petitions;

     (10) "Polling place" means the room in which any election or elective meeting is

conducted;

     (11) "Primary election" means any election to select the candidates of a political party;

     (12) "Proposition" or "public question" means any question put to a referendum of the

electorate of the entire state or any part of it;

     (13) "Qualified voter" means any person who is eligible to vote under the requirements of

age, residence, and citizenship prescribed by the state constitution and who is duly registered to

vote, or who is exempt from registration, pursuant to this title, and who is not otherwise disqualified

as a voter pursuant to law;

     (14) "Special election" means any election other than a local election or primary election

which is not held on a general election day;

     (15) "Specially qualified voter" means a person, who is otherwise eligible to register as a

voter and whose present domicile is Rhode Island and who is confined in a correctional facility or

jail, except by reason of a felony conviction.

     (15)(16) "State board" means the state board of elections constituted pursuant to this title;

     (16)(17) "State election" means any election at which any presidential electors, senator or

representatives in congress, general officers of the state, or members of the general assembly are to

be chosen, or at which a public question or an amendment to the Constitution is submitted to the

electors of the state;

     (17)(18) "State officer" means the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state,

attorney general, general treasurer, state senator, and state representative;

     (18)(19) "Vacancy in office" means the condition resulting from any failure to elect or

appoint an eligible and qualified person to public office, or the failure of any person duly elected

or appointed to qualify, or from the death, resignation, or removal of an incumbent prior to the

expiration of his or her term of office and where no fixed term is prescribed upon the death,

resignation, or removal;

     (19)(20) "Voting list" means the complete list of all voters prepared from the information

contained in the original permanent registration records in the possession of the local board of

canvassers;

     (20)(21) "Warden" includes "moderator" and vice versa;

     (21)(22) Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender.

     SECTION 2. Section 17-9.2-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-9.2 entitled "Rhode

Island Restoration of Voting Rights Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

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     17-9.2-3. Restoration of voting rights.

     (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 accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a felony, and before imposing a

felony sentence after trial, the court shall notify the defendant that conviction will result in loss of

the right to vote only if and for as long as the person is incarcerated and that voting rights are

restored upon discharge.

     (c) The department of corrections shall act as a voter registration agency in accordance

with § 17-9.1-8. In this capacity, and as part of the release process leading to a person's discharge

from a correctional facility, the department of corrections shall notify that person in writing that

voting rights will be restored, provide that person with a voter registration form and a declination

form, and offer that person assistance in filling out the appropriate form. Unless the registrant

refuses to permit it to do so, the department of corrections shall transmit the completed voter

registration form to the state board or local board where the registrant resides.

     (d) The department of corrections shall, on or before the 15th day of each month, transmit

to the secretary of state two (2) lists. The first shall contain the following information about persons

convicted of a felony who, during the preceding period, have become ineligible to vote because of

their incarceration; the second shall contain the following information about persons convicted of

a felony who, during the preceding period, have become eligible to vote because of their discharge

from incarceration:

     (1) name;

     (2) date of birth;

     (3) date of entry of judgment of conviction;

     (4) description of offense;

     (5) sentence.

     (e) The secretary of state shall ensure that the statewide central voter registration is purged

of the names of persons who are ineligible to vote because of their incarceration upon a felony

conviction. The secretary of state shall likewise ensure that the names of persons who are eligible

and registered to vote following their discharge from incarceration are added to the statewide

central voter register in the same manner as all other names are added to that register.

     (f) The secretary of state shall ensure that persons who have become eligible to vote

because of their discharge from incarceration face no continued barriers to registration or voting

resulting from their felony convictions.

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     (g) The secretary of state shall develop and implement a program to educate attorneys,

judges, election officials, corrections officials, and members of the public about the requirements

of this section, ensuring that:

     (1) Judges are informed of their obligation to notify criminal defendants of the potential

loss and restoration of their voting rights in accordance with subsection (b) hereof.

     (2) The department of corrections is prepared to assist people with registration to vote in

anticipation of their discharge from incarceration, including by forwarding completed voter

registration forms to the state board or local board where the registrant resides.

     (3) The language on voter registration forms makes clear that people who have been

disqualified from voting because of felony convictions regain the right to vote when they are

discharged from incarceration.

     (4) The state department of corrections is prepared to transmit to the secretary of state the

information specified in subsection (d) hereof.

     (5) Probation and parole officers are informed of the change in the law and are prepared to

notify probationers and parolees that their right to vote is restored.

     (6) Accurate and complete information about the voting rights of people who have been

charged with or convicted of crimes, whether disfranchising or not, is made available through a

single publication to government officials and the public.

     (7) All voting information shall be posted in a visible location at all correctional facility

buildings, where notices are customarily posted.

     (h) Voting rights shall be restored to all Rhode Island residents who have been discharged

from incarceration or who were never incarcerated following felony convictions, whether they were

discharged or sentenced before or after the effective date of this section.

     SECTION 3. Chapter 17-20 of the General Laws entitled "Mail Ballots" is hereby amended

by adding thereto the following sections:

     17-20-1.2. Specially qualified voter.

     A "specially qualified voter," as defined in § 17-1-2, can request a mail ballot, even if they

have not registered to vote. The mail ballot application shall provide a check box for a person

applying for a mail ballot, to indicate they are incarcerated, but not for a felony conviction. On the

application, the applicant shall include the address at which they are either registered to vote or

qualified to vote from and the address where they would like the mail ballot sent.

     17-20-1.3. Jail voting coordinator.

     The director of the department of corrections shall designate one of its employees the "jail

voting coordinator" who shall educate and facilitate the voting by eligible inmate voters. That

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designation shall take place immediately upon its creation and that employee shall be continuously

available to assist inmate voting. That coordinator shall be responsible for ensuring that all the

department of corrections' responsibilities, pursuant to § 17-9.2-3, are fulfilled in a timely manner.

The coordinator shall prepare and submit to the secretary of state an annual implementation plan

detailing the department of corrections' compliance and which shall include, but not be limited to:

     (1) Identifying which staff members in each correctional facility building shall be

responsible for providing voter information to incarcerated persons;

     (2) Incorporating voter registration procedures;

     (3) Methods for notifying persons incarcerated for misdemeanor convictions of their right

to continue voting, when incarcerated; and

     (4) Ensuring access to mail ballot requests and submissions for incarcerated individuals

eligible to vote.

     (b) The coordinator shall be responsible for all phases of the inmate voting process, from

registering voters, to the acquisition of the mail ballots, to the final return of the voted ballots to the

board of elections.

     17-20-1.4. Enforcement of inmate voting.

     In accordance with the requirements of title 17, any incarcerated eligible voter who is

denied access to the voting process at any juncture, shall have the right to file a formal complaint

with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary

to ensure all aspects of this process are followed, as well as to aid in the enforcement and protection

of inmate voting rights.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- MAIL BALLOTS--VOTING

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     This act would make it easier for eligible incarcerated inmates to vote. It would also create

the title of "jail voting coordinator" within the department of corrections, to help facilitate inmate

voting from start to finish. Finally, it would authorize the secretary of state to promulgate rules and

regulations to enforce inmate voting rights.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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