| Chapter 073 |
| 2025 -- H 5311 Enacted 06/17/2025 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- MAIL BALLOTS |
Introduced By: Representatives Shanley, Batista, Hull, Biah, and Noret |
| Date Introduced: February 05, 2025 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 17-20-26 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-20 entitled "Mail |
| Ballots" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 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 that shall be separate and apart from |
| the general public area and sufficiently monitored through security measures including security |
| cameras. The board shall, beginning twenty (20) 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 on the state board of elections’ |
| website and the secretary of state’s website posted 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, email or otherwise of the day on which ballots |
| 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 in which the voter cast his or her ballot; and |
| (2) Compare the name, residence, and signature of the voter with the name, residence, and |
| signature on the central voter registration system for mail ballots and satisfy itself that both |
| signatures are identical. The board shall designate two (2) persons, to review and compare each |
| voter’s signature with the voter’s signature found in the central voter registration system. If both |
| designees agree that the signatures match, the mail ballot shall proceed to be processed, certified, |
| and tabulated. In the event that one or both designees find a discrepancy with the voter’s signature, |
| the certification envelope shall then be reviewed by a pair of supervising board staff members. If |
| the pair of supervising board staff members find that the signatures match, then the mail ballot shall |
| proceed to be processed, certified, and tabulated. In the event that one or both supervising board |
| staff members find a discrepancy in the voter’s signature, the supervising board staff shall compare |
| the signature on the certification envelope to the voter’s ballot application. If the pair of supervising |
| board staff members find that those signatures match, then the mail ballot shall proceed to be |
| processed, certified, and tabulated. In the event that one or both supervising board staff members |
| find a discrepancy in the voter’s signature, the supervising board staff shall compare the signature |
| on the certification envelope to the voter’s ballot application. If the pair of supervising board staff |
| members find that the signatures match, then the mail ballot shall proceed to be processed, certified, |
| and tabulated. In the event that one or both supervising board staff members find a discrepancy in |
| the voter’s signature, the certification envelope shall be segregated, and the board will notify the |
| voter of the discrepancy, in accordance with regulations and procedures promulgated by the board. |
| Any segregated certification envelope that has not been cured or fully addressed by the voter, in |
| accordance with the board’s promulgated regulations and procedures, shall be reviewed by the |
| board to make a final determination on the signature set forth on the certification envelope. |
| (d) [Deleted by P.L. 2015, ch. 259, § 1.] |
| (e) The board shall promulgate regulations that allow for challenges to the certification |
| process by the interested voter, the voter’s representative, the candidates, and representatives of the |
| recognized political parties. Such challenges shall be made to the executive director of the board, |
| or the executive director’s designee. The decision of the executive director or designee shall be |
| subject to review by the board. |
| (f) After processing and certification of the mail ballots, they shall be separated in packages |
| in accordance with their respective cities and towns, in the presence of all interested parties. |
| Thereupon, in each instance the board staff shall open the enclosing envelope, and without looking |
| at the votes cast on the enclosed ballot, shall remove the ballot from the envelope. The board staff |
| shall proceed to tabulate the ballots 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 |
| 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 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 transmitted to the local 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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| LC000957 |
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