| Chapter 407 |
| 2025 -- H 5517 Enacted 07/02/2025 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO ELECTION -- VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS |
Introduced By: Representatives Baginski, Paplauskas, and Lima |
| Date Introduced: February 13, 2025 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 17-11-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-11 entitled "Voting |
| Districts and Officials" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 17-11-1. Division of towns and representative district into voting districts. |
| (a) The local board of any city or town may, on or before the sixtieth (60th) day preceding |
| any election, divide or redivide the city or town, or any representative district in the city or town, |
| into voting districts. The local board of each city or town shall determine voting districts by |
| geographical boundaries and by no other means. No voting district shall at any time comprise parts |
| of two (2) or more wards. It shall be the duty of the board to divide the city or town, representative |
| district, or ward so that substantially not more than three thousand (3,000) three thousand five |
| hundred (3,500) total eligible registered voters shall be served by the same polling place; provided, |
| however, that any divisions conducted by the local board pursuant to this section shall not result in |
| creating a polling place serving less than five hundred (500) total eligible registered voters, except |
| when a polling place is located in a low-income or elderly residential development, or when it is |
| caused by legislative district boundaries; and provided, further, that no existing polling place that |
| is presently located in a low-income or elderly residential development shall be eliminated. Upon |
| the establishment and approval of any polling place by the state board, changes to the polling place |
| shall not be allowed until the next redistricting by the general assembly, unless the polling place |
| becomes unavailable to the city or town or no longer meets polling place minimum requirements |
| as established by the state board, then the city or town may take the appropriate action to replace |
| the polling place. A polling place may be located either within or without the voting district for |
| which it is established; provided, that a polling place may be located outside the district only upon |
| unanimous determination of the local board and subject to the approval of the state board that a |
| suitable place is not available within the voting district. |
| (b) Uniform standards for polling place location. When cities and towns shall, subject |
| to the approval of the state board, designate polling locations in accordance with the provisions of |
| this section and ยง 17-19-3.2, they shall take into account the following factors: |
| (1) Accessibility of the polling place to historically disenfranchised communities, |
| including cultural groups, ethnic groups, and minority groups; |
| (2) Proximity of polling places to dense concentrations of voters; |
| (3) Accessibility of polling places by public transportation; |
| (4) Ensuring equitable distribution of polling places in the city or town; and |
| (5) Maximizing voter participation, including through the use of community centers and |
| public gathering places as polling places. |
| (c) Established polling places unaffected. |
| Any polling place established by the local board and approved in accordance with |
| subsections (a) and (b) of this section that, in the course of the normal rise and fall of voter |
| registrations, exceeds the total registered voter threshold established by this section for a biennial |
| general election, shall be permitted to continue over the cap set by subsection (a) of this section |
| until such time as polling places are reestablished following the next decennial redistricting, only |
| upon unanimous approval of the local board and additional certification by the board of elections |
| that the polling place can sufficiently serve the anticipated voter turnout for each separate general |
| election that the polling place will be utilized. |
| SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC001025 |
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