It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 17-1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-1 entitled "General Provisions" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{ADD 17-1-2. Definitions. -- ADD} For the purposes of this title, except as may otherwise be required by the context:

(a) "Election" shall mean the filling of any public office or the determination of any public question by vote of the electorate, and shall include without limitation thereto any state, town, or city office or question, and any political party primary election for the nomination of any candidate for public office; except that it shall not include a financial town meeting or a meeting to elect officers of a fire, water, or sewer district;

(b) "General election" shall mean an election held on the first Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in even numbered years for the election of members of the general assembly and for the election of general officers;

(c) "General officer" shall mean an officer designated as a general officer by chapter 2 of this title

(d) "Local election" shall mean any election limited to the electorate of any city or town, or any part thereof, at which any city, town, ward, or district officers are to be chosen, or any elective meeting at which a question is to be submitted to the voters of a city, town, or any subdivision thereof but it shall not include a financial town meeting;

(e) "Local board" shall mean a town or city board of canvassers, board of canvassers and registration, canvassing authority, or any other local board, commission, or officer empowered by law to have custody of the permanent registration records;

(f) "Political party" or "party" shall mean any political organization which at the preceding general election nominated a candidate for governor, and whose candidate for governor at the election polled at least five per cent (5%) of the entire vote cast in the state for governor;

(g) "Primary election" shall mean any election to select the candidates of a political party;

(h) "Proposition" or "public question" shall mean any question put to referendum of the electorate of the entire state or any part thereof;

(i) "Polling place" shall mean the room in which any election or elective meeting is conducted;

(j) "State board" shall mean the state board of elections constituted pursuant to this title;

(k) "Special election" shall mean any election other than a local election or primary election which is not held on a general election day;

(l) "Vacancy in office" shall mean the condition resulting from any failure to elect or appoint an eligible and qualified person to public office, or the failure of any person duly elected or appointed to qualify, or from the death, resignation, or removal of an incumbent prior to the expiration of his or her term of office and where no fixed term is prescribed upon the death, resignation, or removal;

(m) "Voting list" shall mean the original permanent registration cards provided and maintained in locked binders pursuant to this title and in the event of the loss, destruction, or unavailability of any of these cards, the duplicate permanent registration cards provided and maintained pursuant to this title to the extent that the original card or cards shall have been lost, destroyed, or unavailable and until it or they may be replaced;

(n) "Party member" shall mean any person who is a member of a designated political party pursuant to section 17-9-26.

(o) "Qualified voter" shall mean any person who is eligible to vote under the requirements of age, residence, and citizenship prescribed by the state constitution and who is duly registered to vote, or who is exempt from registration, pursuant to this title, and who is not otherwise disqualified as a voter pursuant to law;

(p) "Party voter" shall mean any qualified voter who is eligible to vote at the primary election of a political party;

(q) "State election" shall mean any election at which any presidential electors, senator or representatives in congress, general officers of the state, or members of the general assembly are to be chosen, or at which a public question or an amendment to the Constitution is submitted to the electors of the state;

(r) "Warden" shall include "moderator," and vice versa;

(s) Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender.

(t) "State officer" shall mean the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, general treasurer, state senator, and state representative.

{ADD (u) "Independent candidate" shall mean a candidate who has no affiliation with any political party. ADD}

SECTION 2. Chapter 17-12 of the General Laws entitled "Party Committees and Conventions" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

{ADD 17-12-17. Names of political parties. -- ADD} {ADD No political party may use or adopt a name which is similar to the name of another political party or which contains the name of another political party. ADD}

SECTION 3. Chapter 17-19 of the General Laws entitled "Conduct of Election, and Voting Machines, and Supplies" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

{ADD 17-19-9.1. Ballot arrangement -- Independent candidates. -- ADD} {ADD In all state elections at which candidates for public office are to be elected, some of whom are candidates of a political party and some of whom are independent candidates as defined in section 17-1-2(u), all independent candidates for the same public office shall be listed on the ballot, opposite and to the right of the office they seek, in a horizontal column or columns in order chosen by lottery; provided; however, that any vertical column on the ballot containing the names of independent candidate shall, at the top of such vertical column, be marked with the word "independent". Any independent candidate shall be entitled to have appear on the ballot in small print immediately above his or her name, the name of any political principle, movement or organization with which the candidate wishes to be identified. The name of the political principle, movement or organization must be identified on the declaration of candidacy; must contain not more than three (3) words; and must not include, in whole or in part, the name of any political party. If any declaration of candidacy does not contain the name of any political principle, movement or organization, the word "independent" will appear in small print immediately above the name of the candidate on the ballot. Except as herein provided, the powers and duties of the secretary of state with respect to the preparation of the ballots shall not be affected. ADD}

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.