Chapter 459
2006 -- H 7533
Enacted 07/07/06
A N A C T
RELATING
TO ELECTIONS -- MAIL BALLOTS
Introduced
By: Representatives Lewiss, Kennedy, Corvese, Pacheco, and Sullivan
Date
Introduced: February 16, 2006
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1.
Sections 17-20-3, 17-20-10, 17-20-14 and 17-20-26 of the General Laws in
Chapter 17-20 entitled "Mail Ballots"
are hereby amended to read as follows:
17-20-3.
Definitions. -- (a) Wherever used in this chapter, every word importing
only the
masculine gender is construed to extend to, and
include, females as well as males.
(b) Whenever used
in this chapter, "bipartisan pairs of supervisors" for primaries
means
a supervisor representing the endorsed
candidates and a supervisor representing a majority of
unendorsed candidates, and for nonpartisan
elections and primaries means non-partisan pairs of
supervisors.
(c) Wherever used
in this chapter, "employed outside of the United States" includes any
person who is:
(1) Employed by
any agency, department or division of the United States government
and who, by reason of that employment, resides
outside of the continental United States;
(2) Employed
outside the territorial limits of the United States; or
(3) A spouse or
dependent residing with persons so employed.
(d) Wherever used
in this chapter "services intimately connected with military
operations" includes members of religious
groups or welfare agencies assisting members of the
armed forces who are officially attached to and
serving with the armed forces and their spouses
and dependents, and the spouses and dependents
of members of the armed forces and of the
merchant marine; provided, that the spouses and
dependents are residing outside of the state with
the members of the armed forces, merchant
marine, or members of the religious or welfare
agencies.
(e) Whenever a
signature is required by a voter in this chapter, "signature" also
means
the voter's mark "X" if the person is
unable to sign his or her name because of physical incapacity
or otherwise.
(f) Whenever
used in this chapter, "bipartisan" means not of the same recognized
political
party.
17-20-10.
Certification of applications -- Issuance of ballots -- Marking of lists --
Mailing address. -- (a) Upon receipt of the
application, the local board shall immediately
examine it and determine whether it complies
with each of the requirements set forth by this
chapter and compare the signature on the ballot
application with the signature contained on the
original registration card, except as may be
otherwise provided by law, to satisfy itself that the
applicant is a qualified voter. Upon determining
that it does meet each requirement of this chapter
and that the signature appears to be the same,
the local board shall mark the application
"accepted" and record in the space
provided on the ballot application the senatorial,
representative, and voting district in which the
applicant should vote.
(b) The local
board shall also record the city or town code and district information in the
mailing label section of the mail ballot
application. The local board shall also print or type the
name of the elector and the complete mailing
address in that section. If the local board does not
accept the application, the local board shall
return the application to the elector, together with a
form prescribed by the secretary of state,
specifying the reason or reasons for the return of the
application.
(c) Not later
than 4:00 p.m. on the eighteenth (18th) day before the day of any election
referred to in this chapter or within seven (7)
days of receipt by the local board, whichever occurs
first, the local board shall certify the
applications to the secretary of state through the CVRS
system as this procedure is prescribed by the
secretary of state. Upon the certification of a mail
ballot application to the secretary of state,
the local board shall enter on the voting list the fact
that a mail ballot application for the voter has
been certified. and shall cause the delivery of the
certified mail ballot applications together with
the signed certified listing thereof in sealed
packages to the state board of elections.
(d) (1) Upon the
ballots becoming available, the secretary of state shall immediately,
issue and mail, by first class mail, postage
prepaid, a mail ballot to each eligible voter who has
been certified. With respect to voters who have
applied for these mail ballots under the provisions
of section 17-20-2(3), the secretary of state
shall include with the mail ballots a stamped return
envelope addressed: "Board of Elections, 50
Branch Avenue, Providence, Rhode Island 02904-
2790".
(2) The secretary
of state shall include on the mail ballot envelope a numerical or
alphabetical code designating the city or town
where the voter resides. The secretary of state shall
immediately thereafter indicate on the voter's
record that the secretary of state has sent mail
ballots provided, that this mark shall serve
solely to indicate that a mail ballot has been issued and
shall not be construed as voting in the
election.
(e) Prior to each
election, the secretary of state shall also furnish to the chairperson of the
state committee of each political party a list
of the names and residence addresses of all persons
to whom mail ballots have been issued. The
secretary of state shall also furnish to a candidate for
political office upon request a list of the
names and residence addresses of all persons to whom
mail ballots have been issued within his or her
district.
(f) [Deleted by
P.L. 2005, ch. 167, section 2.]
(g) If a ballot is
returned to the secretary of state by the postal service as undeliverable,
the secretary of state shall consult with the
appropriate local board to determine the accuracy of
the mailing address, and the secretary of state
shall be required to remail the ballot to the voter
using the corrected address provided by the
local board. If the local board is unable to provide a
different address than that to which the ballot
was originally mailed, the ballot shall be reissued
by the secretary of state to the board of
canvassers in the city or town where the voter resides
utilizing the numerical or alphabetical code
established in subsection (d) of this section. The
board shall then attempt to notify the voter at
his or her place of residence that the ballot has been
returned as undeliverable. The ballot must be
voted and witnessed in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter.
(h) The
acceptance of a mail ballot application by the board of canvassers and the
issuance of a mail ballot by the secretary of
state shall not create any presumption as to the
accuracy of the information provided by the
applicant or as to the applicant's compliance with the
provisions of this chapter. Any inaccuracy in
the provided information or irregularity in the
application may be raised as a challenge to the
ballot before the board of elections at the time of
certification. If the challenge raised at that
time is meritorious, the ballot shall be voided.
(i) Upon the
request of any candidate for public office and upon a showing of good cause
or upon its own motion, the board of elections
shall make inquiry into the legitimacy of the
certifications issued pursuant to section
17-20-2.2(3) by any physician or practitioner who issues
more than fifty (50) certifications in any one
election or by any physician or practitioner who the
board has reason to believe has made a false
certification. The inquiry shall include a
determination as to whether the physician or
practitioner conducted an examination of the
electors he or she certified as ill or disabled
to determine whether it would be an undue hardship
on them to go to the polls. The provisions of
chapter 37.3 of title 5 shall not apply to any
proceeding before the state board of elections conducted
pursuant to this title. The boards of
canvassers shall immediately notify the board of
elections of any physician who has issued more
than twenty-five (25) certifications in their
city or town in the same election.
(j) Within two
(2) business days of receipt by the local board, the board shall certify
emergency mail ballot applications and shall
cause the delivery of the emergency mail ballot
applications, and certification sheet in sealed
packages to the state board of elections.
17-20-14.
Voting from hospitals and convalescent homes -- Penalty for interference.
– (a) The state board of elections shall appoint
as many bipartisan pairs of supervisors as are
necessary whose duty it shall be to attend each
hospital, rest home, nursing home and
convalescent home, or similar types of personal
care facility in the state within seven (7) twenty
(20) days prior to the election. They shall
supervise the casting of votes by persons using mail
ballots at a place that preserves their secrecy
and shall take acknowledgments or serve as
witnesses, and jointly provide assistance, if
requested, to assure proper marking, sealing, and
mailing of ballots as voted. Every mail ballot
cast by a patient in a hospital or convalescent home
within this state must be witnessed by the state
supervisors. It shall be the duty of the person or
persons in charge of hospitals, rest homes,
nursing homes and convalescent homes, or similar
types of personal care facility to allow the
state supervisors to perform their duties as set forth in
this section at all reasonable times. Every
person who willfully hinders the state supervisors in
performing their duties as set forth in this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) It shall be
the responsibility of the state board of elections to provide all bipartisan
pairs of supervisors with an official
identification card. All bipartisan pairs of supervisors will be
required to have in their possession their
identification card when conducting official business.
(c) Any person
who deliberately misrepresents themselves as an official of the board of
elections, or who deceives, coerces, or
interferes with a voter casting a ballot, shall be subject to
prosecution under section 17-20-30.
17-20-26.
Opening and counting of ballots. -- (a) (1) Beginning prior to and
continuing
on election day the state board, upon receipt of
mail ballots, shall keep the ballots in a safe and
secure place which shall be separate and apart from
the general public area, and hold sessions, at
which in each instance it shall:
(i) Open the
outer envelope and attach the matching ballot application to the inner
certifying envelope;
(ii) Write or
fill in the name or number of the city or town, and senatorial and
representative and/or voting district, as the
case may be, on the inner certifying envelope, as they
appear on the ballot application;
(iii) Number
consecutively for identification the inner certifying envelopes and matching
ballot applications;
(iv)(ii)
Beginning fourteen (14) days prior to and continuing on election day, proceed
to
certify the mail ballots.
(2) Notice of
these sessions shall be given to the public by announcements in newspapers
of general circulation published at least
twenty-four (24) hours before the commencing of any
session. All candidates for state and federal
office, as well as all state party chairpersons, shall be
given notice by telephone or otherwise of the
day on which ballots effecting that candidate's
district will be certified; provided, that
failure to effect the notice shall in no way invalidate the
ballots.
(b) This
processing shall be done within a railed space in the room in which it takes
place, and the board shall admit within the
railed space, in accordance with those rules that the
board shall adopt, to witness the processing and
certification of the ballots, the interested voter or
the voter's representative, the candidates, or
at least one representative of each candidate for
whom votes are at the time being processed, and
an equal number of representatives of each
political party. These representatives shall be
authorized in writing by the voter, the candidate, or
the chairperson of the state committee of the
political party, respectively, as the case may be. The
board shall also, in accordance with these
rules, admit representatives of the press and
newscasting agencies and any other persons that
it deems proper.
(c) At these
sessions, and before certifying any ballot, the state board shall:
(1) Determine the
city or town, and senatorial, representative, and voting district, in
which the voter cast his or her ballot and
classify accordingly; and
(2) Compare the name,
residence, and signature of the voter with the name, residence,
and signature on the ballot application for mail
ballots and satisfy itself that both signatures are
identical.
(d) If during
upon completion of the processing and certification of a
mail ballots no
objection has been raised against the
certification of a the ballot, the outer envelope shall be
discarded. However, if an objection has been
raised that entails further consideration and
determination by the board, the outer envelope
shall remain attached to the certifying inner
envelope for identification purposes.
(e) The board
shall establish guidelines setting forth the grounds for challenging the
certification of mail ballots. These guidelines
shall recognize that if a ballot can be reasonably
identified to be that of the voter it purports
to be, and if it can reasonably be determined that the
voter was eligible to vote by mail ballot and if
the requirements of section 17-20-2.1 were
complied with, it should not be subject to
frivolous or technical challenge. The burden of proof in
challenging a mail ballot as not obtained and/or
cast in conformance with this chapter is on the
person challenging the ballot. Once the
irregularity is shown, the burden of proof shall shift to the
person defending the ballot to demonstrate that
it is the ballot of the voter it purports to be, that
the voter was eligible to vote by mail ballot,
and that all of the applicable requirements of section
17-20-2.1 were complied with. The guidelines
shall be adopted at a public meeting of the board
and shall be made available prior to the start
of the certification process for mail ballots.
(f) After
processing and certification of the mail ballots, they shall be separated in
packages in accordance with their respective
cities and towns, and senatorial, representative, and
voting districts, in the presence of the
board and all other interested parties. Thereupon, in each
instance the board shall open the enclosing
envelope, and without looking at the votes cast on the
enclosed ballot, shall remove the ballot from
the envelope. After the last of the ballots has been
removed, tThe state board shall immediately
proceed to count the ballots on election day through
the use of a central count optical scan unit
with the same effect as if the ballots had been cast by
the electors in open town or district meetings.
(g) When a local
election is held at a time other than in conjunction with a statewide
election, the state board, after the processing
and certification of the mail ballots cast in the local
election, shall package the local ballots to be
promptly delivered in sealed packages, bearing upon
the seals the signatures of the members of the
board, to the appropriate local board which shall a
thereupon proceed to count the ballots in the
same manner and with the same effect as state mail
ballots are counted by the state board.
(h) When a
local election is held in New Shoreham at a time other than in conjunction
with a statewide election, the state board,
after the processing and certification of the mail ballots
cast in the local election, shall have the
authority to count the ballots in the same manner and with
the same effect as state mail ballots are
counted by the state board in a statewide election. Once
the ballots are counted, the results shall be
sent via facsimile to the local board in New Shoreham.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02217
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