2026 -- S 3043

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LC003864

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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 -- NOMINATION OF PARTY AND INDEPENDENT

CANDIDATES -- DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY AND PRIMARY VOTES

     Introduced By: Senators Raptakis, Burke, de la Cruz, Quezada, Thompson, Tikoian,
DiPalma, Ciccone, Urso, and Zurier

     Date Introduced: March 05, 2026

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 17-14-1, 17-14-11 and 17-14-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-

14 entitled "Nomination of Party and Independent Candidates" are hereby amended to read as

follows:

     17-14-1. Declarations of candidacy.

     During the last first consecutive Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in June April 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

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.

     17-14-11. Checking and certification of nomination papers — Challenge.

     (a) Each nomination paper for party and independent candidates shall be submitted before

four o’clock (4:00) p.m. on the sixtieth (60th) day before the primary to the local board of the city

or town where the signers appear to be voters or, in the case of special elections for state and local

office, on the twenty-eighth (28th) day before the primary, or in the case of special elections for

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federal office, on the fifty-third (53rd) day before the primary. Nomination papers for independent

presidential candidates and presidential candidates of political parties, other than those defined in

§ 17-1-2(9), shall be filed not later than sixty (60) ninety (90) days prior to the general election.

Each local board shall immediately proceed to check signatures on each nomination paper filed

with it against the voting list as last canvassed or published according to law.

     (b) The local boards shall certify a sufficient number of names appearing on the nomination

papers that are in conformity with the requirements of § 17-14-8 to qualify the candidate for a

position on the ballot, and after considering any challenge under this section and, if necessary,

certifying any additional valid names, shall immediately file nomination papers for statewide

office, general assembly, and state and district committee candidates with the secretary of state;

provided, that nomination papers for local candidates shall be retained by the local board.

     (c) If any candidate or an individual presenting written authorization from the candidate,

or the chairperson of any party committee questions the validity or authenticity of any signature on

the nomination paper, the local board shall immediately and summarily decide the question, and

for this purpose, shall have the same powers as are conferred upon the board by the provisions of

§ 17-14-14.

     (d) If any challenged signature is found to be invalid, for any reason in law, or forged, then

the signature shall not be counted.

     (e) The local canvassing clerk shall immediately notify the state board in writing and via

electronic mail if the local canvassing clerk suspects a consistent pattern of forgery as prescribed

by § 17-23-17 on the nomination papers of a local, state, or federal candidate.

     (1) The state board, upon notification of allegations of any consistent pattern of suspected

forged signatures on nomination papers of a local, state, or federal candidate, shall review the

allegations and, if determined to be with reasonable cause, shall, as soon as feasible notify all

corresponding local canvassing clerks of the allegations of suspected forgery.

     (2) The state board, if it deems necessary, shall order a review of all nomination papers of

a local, state, or federal candidate whose nomination papers include a consistent pattern of

suspected forged signatures as prescribed in this subsection. The state board, in consultation with

the Elections Committee of the Rhode Island Town and City Clerks’ Association, shall promulgate

rules and regulations on the process to review nomination papers of a local, state, or federal

candidate whose nomination papers include a consistent pattern of suspected forged signatures as

prescribed in this subsection.

     (3) The state board shall explicitly determine and deliver, in writing and via electronic mail

to the secretary of state, the findings of the review of the local, state, or federal candidate whose

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nomination papers include suspected forged signatures as prescribed in this subsection, and whether

the determination affects a candidate’s qualification for a position on the ballot.

     17-14-12. Filing of nomination papers.

     All nomination papers for state offices or officers and all certified lists of candidates for

local offices or officers shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state (the certified lists by the

respective local boards), not later than fifty-four (54) eight-four (84) days before the date of the

primary held to nominate candidates for general election; but when there is a primary to nominate

candidates for any office mentioned in § 17-15-7 to be voted upon at a special election for state and

local office, all nomination papers and lists of local candidates shall be filed in the office on or

before the twenty-sixth (26th) day preceding the day of the special primary election, or when there

is a primary to nominate candidates for any office listed in § 17-15-7 to be voted upon at a special

election for federal office, all nomination papers and lists of local candidates shall be filed in the

office on or before the forty-nineth (49th) day preceding the day of the special primary election.

Nomination papers for independent presidential candidates and presidential candidates of political

parties other than those defined in § 17-1-2(9) shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state

by the local boards of canvassers not later than fifty-four (54) eight-four (84) days before the date

of the election.

     SECTION 2. Section 17-15-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-15 entitled "Primary

Elections" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-15-1. Date of primaries.

     A primary election for the nomination of candidates for each political party shall be held

in each voting district in the manner provided in this chapter on the eighth second Tuesday

preceding biennial state elections after the first Monday in September in each even numbered year.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- NOMINATION OF PARTY AND INDEPENDENT

CANDIDATES -- DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY AND PRIMARY VOTES

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     This act would set an earlier deadline from June to April for filing of declaration of

candidacy and nomination papers It would delay the filing of nomination papers from fifty-four

(54) days to eighty-four (84) days, before the date of the primary. It would also change the date of

primary elections, from the eighth Tuesday preceding the biennial state elections to the second

Tuesday.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2027

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