Chapter
480
2004 -- H 8033
Enacted 07/07/04
A N A C T
RELATING TO ELECTIONS --
VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS AND PRIMARY
ELECTIONS
Introduced By:
Representatives Lima, and Shavers
Date
Introduced: February 24, 2004
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 17-11-3, 17-11-6, 17-11-7, 17-11-7.2, 17-11-8, 17-11-10, 17-11-
11, 17-11-12 and 17-11-13 of the
General Laws in Chapter 17-11 entitled "Voting Districts and
Officials" are hereby amended
to read as follows:
17-11-3.
Appointment of moderators and clerks in the town of Smithfield. --
Moderators and clerks of voting
districts in the town of Smithfield shall be appointed by the
Smithfield town council. at
least thirty-five (35) days prior to the date of a primary or election.
The moderator and clerk of a
polling place shall not be of the same political party.
17-11-6.
Appointment of district moderators and clerks in default of election. --
Whenever voting district moderators
and clerks, and moderators and clerks of senatorial or
representative districts, have not
been elected in any city or town, the local board of the city or
town shall appoint these officers
at least ten (10) thirty-five (35) days before any election or
district or town meeting, and the
officers shall hold office until the appointment or election of
their successors. ;
provided, however, that the moderator and clerk shall not be of the same
political party.
17-11-7.
District moderators and clerks regularly appointed by board. -- In the
towns
of Barrington, Bristol, Lincoln,
Middletown, Portsmouth, Warren, Westerly, West Warwick, and
Johnston, at least ten (10) thirty-five
(35) days prior to every election, there shall be appointed by
the local board of each town,
respectively, a moderator and a clerk for each polling place, one of
whom shall be a democrat and one
a republican, and not from the
same political party, who shall,
whenever possible, be party voters in the district for which they
are appointed.
17-11-7.2.
Appointment of moderators and clerks for the town of Narragansett. --
Moderators and clerks of the voting
districts for the town of Narragansett shall be appointed by
the Narragansett board of
canvassers. at least thirty-five (35) days prior to every primary or
election. The moderator and
clerk of a polling place shall not be of the same political party.
17-11-8.
Qualifications of moderators and clerks -- Vacancies. -- The moderators
and
clerks shall each be able to read
the Constitution of the state in the English language, and to write
their names. Every person appointed
as a moderator or clerk shall immediately be notified of his
or her appointment and shall, within
five (5) at least three (3) days of his or her appointment
before any election at which
that person has been appointed to serve,
accept or decline the
appointment, and shall be, at least
three (3) days prior to the election, sworn to the faithful
discharge of his or her duties by some
member of the board making the appointment. In case any
appointed person neglects to
qualify or is unable or fails to serve, the vacancy shall be filled by
the board making the appointment,
and the appointee shall be ,whenever possible, of the same
political party affiliation
as the person failing to qualify, and shall, before serving, qualify before
some member of the board.
17-11-10.
Filling of vacancies by town council. -- In case of the death,
resignation, or
permanent disability of the moderator
of any town, or of the moderator or clerk of any senatorial
or representative district, except
in the cities of Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Warwick,
Cranston, Woonsocket, and Newport,
or of any voting district in any town, except the towns of
Barrington, Middletown, and Warren,
not divided into senatorial or representative districts, the
town council may fill the vacancy
from a the list of party registered voters
submitted by the party
chairperson under whose party
designation the moderator or clerk had been elected. In the
absence of a submitted list, or,
if the person, when elected, was not affiliated with any party, the
town council may make its choice
from the primary list of the party which elected the moderator
or clerk registered voters.
17-11-11.
Selection of wardens and clerks in cities. -- At least twenty (20)
thirty-five
(35) days before any election, the local board in each
city shall appoint for each polling place
within the city where an election
is to be held a warden and clerk, one of whom shall be a
republican and the other of whom
shall be a democrat not from the
same political party. The
appointments shall be made from a
list of not less than ten (10) qualified party registered voters
presented to the board by the city
or town committees of the republican and democratic parties,
respectively, the republican
election officials to be selected from the republican list, and the
democratic election officials
from the democratic list, or in case any committee fails to submit the
list within the required time,
they shall select election officials from the party voters of the same
political party as the committee
failing to submit the list. The local board may adopt a plan for
some or all wardens or clerks to
work a half-day at half-pay if the plan is consistent with the
provisions of this section and
is approved by the state board. political
parties at least forty-five
(45) days before any election.
17-11-12.
Qualifications of election officials -- Vacancies. -- Election
officials shall
,whenever possible, be qualified electors in the city, town, senatorial
or representative district, or
voting district in which they are
appointed to serve, and shall severally be able to read the
Constitution of the state in the
English language and to write their names. Every person appointed
as a warden, clerk, moderator,
or supervisor shall, within forty-eight (48) hours thereafter, be
notified in writing by the clerk of
the local board of the appointment; and the person appointed
shall, within ninety-six (96)
hours after five (5) days of his or her appointment, notify the
clerk in
writing of that person's acceptance
or declination of the appointment, and any vacancy occurring
among these election officials,
whether by declination or refusal to serve or by failure to notify
the clerk, or by failure from any
cause to appear at or remain during the time when they are
required to perform their duties,
shall be immediately filled by the local board, or by its presiding
officer if the board is not in
session, from the lists provided for in section 17-11-10, by the
substitution of a person of the
same political party as was the election official first appointed.
Each of these election officials
shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his or her duties before
entering upon the performance of
his duties.
17-11-13.
Appointment and compensation of supervisors. -- (a) The local board of
each city and town, at least twenty
(20) thirty-five (35) days before each election, shall appoint
two (2) pairs of supervisors for
each polling place, each pair of which shall not be comprised one
democrat and one republican of two (2) persons from the same political party.
Supervisors shall,
if possible, be appointed from a list of qualified party eligible
voters presented and employed in
the same manner as provided by this
chapter for the appointment of wardens and clerks.
(b)
The local board may, in its discretion, or upon the direction and
upon
recommendation of the state board shall, in like manner,
appoint one or more additional
bipartisan pairs of supervisors for any polling place whenever and so
long as the appointment is,
in the judgment of either board,
necessary to facilitate the conduct of an election.
(c)
The supervisors of elections in all cities and towns shall severally receive
compensation for their services at
the minimum rate of sixty dollars ($60) per day.
(d)
The local board may adopt a plan for some or all supervisors to work a half-day
at
half-pay if the plan is consistent
with the provisions of this section and is approved by the state
board.
(e)
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) above, the local board of a
city or
town may, upon written approval
of the board of elections, reduce the number of supervisors at
polling places within their
jurisdiction.
SECTION
2. Sections 17-15-13, 17-15-14 and 17-15-16 of the General Laws in Chapter
17-15 entitled "Primary Elections"
are hereby amended to read as follows:
17-15-13.
Voting places -- Primary officials -- Party officials -- Appointment. --
(a)
From lists submitted to it by the
chairperson of the state committees of each party, the board shall
appoint and issue commissions to a
sufficient number of qualified electors of this state to be
primary inspectors so that one
inspector may be assigned for each party to each primary polling
place to work with the other
primary officials of his or her party. The local board shall, at least
twenty (20) fifty (50) days previous prior
to the primary, select the place or places designated by
it for holding the primary election
provided for by this chapter. The local board shall, at least
seven (7) thirty-five (35) days before any primary
election, appoint for each polling place within
its city or town a primary warden
or moderator and a primary clerk in the following manner:
(1)
If there are primary contests in both major political parties, the warden and
clerk
shall be appointed as provided in
section 17-11-11;
(2)
If there is a primary contest in only one of the major political parties, the
warden and
the clerk shall be selected from a
list submitted by the local committee of the party in which the
contest exists.
(b)
The local board shall also appoint at least thirty-five days (35) before any
primary
election, from lists submitted at least ten (10) forty-five
(45) days prior to the date set for the
holding of the primaries, four (4)
supervisors, in the following manner: (1) if there are primary
contests in both major political
parties, one supervisor shall be appointed for each party in the
manner provided in section 17-11-11
and two (2) supervisors, one for each party, shall be
appointed from lists submitted by a
majority of the respective party candidates, other than those
endorsed by the party committee;
(2) if there is no primary contest in one of the major political
parties, two (2) supervisors shall
be appointed from a list submitted by the local committee in
which the contest exists, and two
(2) supervisors shall be appointed from a list or lists submitted
by a majority of the party
candidates, other than those endorsed by the party committee. The local
board may appoint any additional
pairs of supervisors that it may deem necessary in the same
manner provided in this subsection
and shall do so when directed by the state board.
(c)
The local board shall also appoint for each party one watcher, two (2)
checkers, and
the number of runners, not to
exceed three (3), that the appropriate party chairperson may deem
necessary, which watcher, checkers,
and runners shall be designated as party officials. These
party officials shall be appointed
from lists of qualified electors who are qualified to vote at the
respective party primaries which
lists shall be furnished as provided in subsection (b) of this
section to the local board at least
ten (10) days prior to the date set for the holding of the primary.
If the party candidates or a majority
of them, other than those endorsed by the party committee,
notify the local board in writing
of their choices at least ten (10) days prior to the date set for the
holding of the primaries, the local
board shall likewise appoint one watcher, two (2) checkers, and
the number of runners that it shall
have appointed at the request of the party chairperson, to act
for them collectively. The local
board shall give them certificates as party officials.
17-15-14.
Qualifications of primary officials -- Affidavit. -- (a) Each warden or
moderator and each primary
supervisor appointed under the provisions of sections 17-15-13 and
17-15-16 shall be able to read the
Constitution of the state in the English language, and to write
his or her name, and shall ,whenever
possible, be a party voter of the senatorial district,
representative district, or town,
ward, or voting district from which he or she is appointed.
(b)
No person shall be appointed to serve as a primary official who has been
convicted,
found guilty, pleaded guilty or
nolo contendere, or placed on a deferred or suspended sentence or
on probation for any crime which
involved moral turpitude or a violation of any of the election,
caucus, or primary laws of this or
any other state.
(c)
No person shall be appointed to serve as a primary official who is an officer
or
employee of the United States, of
this state, or of any city or town of this state, but no person
shall be disqualified solely
because that person is a notary public or a teacher.
(d)
No person who is seeking nomination or election at any primary election shall
act as
a primary official at that primary.
(e)
Every primary official shall make an affidavit before the proper local board or
some
member of the board to the effect
that that official is not disqualified by reason of the provisions
of this section.
17-15-16.
Vacancies among primary officials. -- Vacancies occurring among primary
officials shall be immediately filled
by the local boards in the same manner as provided for
general elections as qualified by
section 17-15-13; provided, that in the event there are no lists
available, the local board shall
appoint some person or persons to fill the vacancy from the
primary lists of the party registered voters.
SECTION
3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02530
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