Chapter 417

2004 -- S 3150

Enacted 07/05/04

A N A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS - VOTER REGISTRATION

Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, and Paiva-Weed

Date Introduced: May 27, 2004

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 17-9.1-25 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-9.1 entitled

"Registration of Voters" is hereby amended to read as follows:

17-9.1-25. Acknowledgement of registration or change of address -- Verification of

residence. -- (a) The local board of each city or town shall mail an acknowledgement card to each

newly registered voter and to each voter who changes his or her voting residence within seven (7)

days after receipt of the registration or change of residence. The acknowledgement card shall

notify the applicant for registration of the disposition of the application, i.e., whether the

application is deemed accepted or denied. If denied, the reason for the denial shall be indicated on

the card. The acknowledgement card shall be mailed to the applicant at the address from which he

or she registered and shall be clearly marked: "Do Not Forward -- Return If Undeliverable".

Provided, however, that the New Shoreham Board of Canvassers may address the

acknowledgement card, and any other notice that may be required by this chapter, to the person’s

post office box if said post office box is located within the confines of New Shoreham.

     (b) The acknowledgement form shall be a postal card of a size and other specifications

that shall be determined by the state board and shall be substantially in the following form;

provided, that the wording of the form may be revised and updated from time to time by the state

board in a manner to make its content as easily readable and understandable as possible:

     Front Side

     Board of Canvassers Affix

     Address of Board of Canvassers Postage

     for the city or town in which registered

     ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED RETURN POSTAGE

     GUARANTEED DO NOT FORWARD

     Voter's Name

     Voter's Address

     ________________________________________________________________________

Reverse Side

_____________________________________________________________________

Your application to register to vote has been received and accepted.

     The following is information concerning your voting districts.

     Your U.S. Representative District is _________________________________________

Your State Senate District is ________________________________________________

Your Representative District is ______________________________________________

Your Council District is ____________________________________________________

Your Ward District is ______________________________________________________

Your Voting District is _____________________________________________________

Locations of polling places for these districts may be obtained from newspaper

advertisements preceding each election or by calling your local board.

     Your application to register to vote has been received incomplete. Please contact our

office at the telephone number or address listed below.

     Your application to register to vote has been rejected because _______________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

If this card is addressed to a person who does not live at this address, please ask your

mail carrier to return it to the sender.

     Board of Canvassers

     Address

     Telephone Number

      (c) The form may also contain any other information that may be required by the state

board.

     (d) Those postal cards that are returned as undeliverable to the local board shall be

reviewed to verify that the address was correctly printed on the card. All cards returned as

undeliverable shall be attached to the registration cards and maintained as a record of the local

board.

     (e) Any voter whose application to register to vote has been accepted, but whose

acknowledgement card has been returned by postal authorities as undeliverable, shall be placed

on an inactive list of voters and shall not be permitted to vote unless an affirmation form is

completed. The local board shall be required, upon receipt of the undeliverable acknowledgement

card, to commence the confirmation process described in section 17-9.1-26.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC03468

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