Chapter 408
2025 -- S 0513
Enacted 07/02/2025

A N   A C T
RELATING TO ELECTION -- VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS

Introduced By: Senators Patalano, Dimitri, Gallo, Pearson, Thompson, Burke, Appollonio, Britto, Tikoian, and Ciccone

Date Introduced: February 26, 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 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC002178
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