2026 -- H 7786

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LC003599

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- GENERAL STATE OFFICERS -- NON-PARTISAN

ELECTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE

     Introduced By: Representatives Newberry, Chippendale, Nardone, and Place

     Date Introduced: February 12, 2026

     Referred To: House State Government & Elections

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 17-2-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-2 entitled "General State

Officers" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-2-1. General officers enumerated — Election and terms.

     The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and general

treasurer shall be known as general officers. They shall be elected at a general election,

quadrennially, in accordance with the provisions of this title, and shall hold their respective offices

for four (4) years beginning on the first Tuesday of January next succeeding their election and until

the election and qualification of their respective successors. Commencing with the election to be

held in 2030, the secretary of state shall be elected in a non-partisan election, without any party

label, and is not to be nominated or elected as an official representative of a political party.

     SECTION 2. Section 17-12-13 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-12 entitled "Party

Committees and Conventions" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-12-13. State conventions.

     There shall be held not later than October 14 of every even year a state convention for each

political party. The nominees of a party for senator and for representatives in congress, for the five

(5) general offices, and for membership in the general assembly shall be delegates to the state

convention of that party. In presidential election years, these conventions shall select the party

nominees for presidential electors and their names shall be placed on the ballot for the forthcoming

election. Commencing with the election to be held in 2030, the secretary of state shall be elected in

a non-partisan election, without any party label, and is not to be nominated or elected as an official

representative of a political party.

     SECTION 3. Section 17-14-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-14 entitled "Nomination

of Party and Independent Candidates" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-14-1. Declarations of candidacy.

     During the last consecutive Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in June in the even years

and during the thirty-ninth (39th) and fortieth (40th) days preceding a primary election for a special

election for state or local office, or for an election for state or local office regularly scheduled for a

time other than the biennial general statewide election, or during the sixty-seventh (67th) and sixty-

eighth (68th) days preceding a primary election for a special election for federal office, or for an

election for federal office regularly scheduled for a time other than the biennial general statewide

election, each voter desiring to be a candidate at the upcoming primary or an independent candidate

on final nomination papers shall, on a form that shall be provided by the secretary of state, file a

declaration of their candidacy not later than four o’clock (4:00) p.m. of the last day for the filing

with the secretary of state for congressional and statewide general offices, or with the local board

of the place of the candidate’s voting residence for general assembly, or state committee or

senatorial and representative district committee, or with the appropriate local board for local

officers. The declaration shall be signed by the candidate as the candidate’s name appears on the

voting list. The signature shall be accepted as valid if it can be reasonably identified to be the name

and signature of the voter it purports to be. A variation of the voter’s signature by the insertion or

omission of identifying titles or by the substitution of initials for the first or middle names or both

shall not in itself be grounds for invalidation of the signature. The declaration shall also include the

following information:

     (1) The candidate’s name as it appears on the voting list, subject to the same provisions as

relate to the voter’s signature on the declaration;

     (2) The address as it appears on the voting list, provided that an address that is substantially

the same as the address on the voting list shall be valid;

     (3) The party declaration if seeking to run in a party primary;

     (4) The office sought;

     (5) The place and date of birth;

     (6) The length of residence in the state and in the town or city where the candidate resides;

     (7) A certification that the candidate is neither serving a sentence, including probation or

parole, for which the candidate was imprisoned upon final conviction of a felony imposed on any

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date nor serving any sentence, whether incarcerated or suspended, on probation or parole, upon

final conviction of a felony committed after November 5, 1986;

     (8) A certification that the candidate has not been lawfully adjudicated to be non compos

mentis, of unsound mind;

     (9) In the case of candidates for party nomination, a certification that the candidate has not

been a member of a political party other than the declared party within ninety (90) days of the filing

date, except in the case of candidates for party nomination for a special election for federal office,

or for an election for federal office regularly scheduled for a time other than the biennial general

statewide election, that person shall not have been a member of a political party other than the

declared political party within thirty (30) days of the filing of their declaration of candidacy; and

     (10) If a person is a candidate for a state or local office, a certification that the person has

not within the preceding three (3) years served any sentence, incarcerated or suspended, on

probation or parole, for a crime committed after November 5, 1986, upon a plea of nolo contendere

or guilty or upon a conviction of a felony or for a misdemeanor for which a sentence of

imprisonment for six (6) months or more, whether suspended or to be served was imposed.; and

     (11) Commencing with the election to be held in 2030, the secretary of state shall be elected

in a non-partisan election, without any party label, and is not to be nominated or elected as an

official representative of a political party and shall follow the procedure set forth for independent

candidates set forth herein.

     SECTION 4. Section 42-8-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-8 entitled "Department of

State" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     42-8-1. Head of department — Duties.

     (a) There shall be a department of state. The head of the department of state shall be the

secretary of state. The secretary of state shall perform the duties required by this chapter and by

chapter 2 of title 6; chapters 1 to 4, inclusive, of title 7; chapters 16, 19, and 20 of title 17; chapters

3 and 10 of title 22; chapters 1 to 3 and 4, of title 29; chapter 1 of title 36; chapter 7 of title 37;

chapter 30 of this title; chapters 1 and 2 of title 43; chapter 6 of title 44; and any and all other

provisions of the general laws and public laws insofar as such powers and duties relate to the

secretary of state and the department of state.

     (b) Commencing with the election to be held in 2030, the attorney general shall be elected

in a non-partisan election, without any party label, and is not to be nominated or elected as an

official representative of a political party.

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     SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2030.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- GENERAL STATE OFFICERS -- NON-PARTISAN

ELECTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE

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     This act would provide for the non-partisan election of the secretary of state, commencing

with the 2030 election.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2030.

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