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 {ADD /or ADD} for the election of general officers {DEL ; DEL} {ADD , and/or for the election of presidential electors for president/vice-president of the United States; ADD}

(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 {ADD (1) ADD} any political organization which at the {ADD next ADD} preceding general election {ADD for the election of general officers ADD} 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 {DEL ; DEL} {ADD , or (2) any political organization which at the next preceding general election for the election of a president of the United States nominated a candidate for president and whose candidate for president at the election polled at least five percent (5%) of the entire vote cast in the state for president, or (3) any political organization which, on petition forms provided to the chairman of such organization by the state board of elections, shall obtain the signatures and addresses of that number of registered qualified voters which shall be equal to five percent (5%) of the entire vote cast in the state for governor or president in the immediately preceding general election. All such signatures must be obtained no earlier than January 1 of the year in which the political organization desires to place a candidate or candidates on any ballot as a "party" candidate. If the political organization wishes to select its nominees in a primary election, said petitions, bearing the requisite number of valid signatures, shall be presented to the appropriate local boards of canvassers no later than June 1 of the same year. If said petitions are validated by said local boards as containing the requisite number of valid signatures, said political organization shall be deemed to be a political party for all elections held during such year and may select its nominees in a primary election. If the political organization does not wish to select its nominees in a primary election, then said petitions need not be returned to local boards of canvassers until August 1 of the same year. An organization qualifying as a political party through the petition process shall qualify as a political party only during the year in which such signatures are obtained unless the candidates for governor or president of the United States of such party at a general election held in such year, shall receive five percent (5%) of the vote as provided above for either governor or president of the United States. If such candidates do not receive said five percent (5%) of the vote, the organization shall no longer qualify as a political party unless and until it shall, in a subsequent year, once again qualify by the submission of petitions; ADD}

(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.

SECTION 2. Section 17-12.1-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-12.1 entitled "Primaries for Election of Delegates to National Conventions and for Presidential Preference" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{ADD 17-12.1-12. Definitions. -- ADD} For the purposes of this chapter the following terms shall have the meaning indicated as follows:

(A) "Political party" shall {DEL mean any political organization which at the preceding general election nominated a candidate for governor and whose candidate for governor at that election polled at least five percent (5%) of the entire vote cast in the state for governor. DEL} {ADD be defined as provided in section 17-1-2(f). ADD}

(B) "Uncommitted" shall mean a candidate for delegate not approved by, obligated, or committed to any particular presidential contender.

(C) "Bona fide national candidate" shall mean a person who is generally recognized nationally as a presidential contender within his respective party.

SECTION 3. Chapter 17-12 of the General Laws entitled "Party Committees and Conventions" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:

{ADD 17-12-15. Qualifying as a political party through independent candidacy. -- ADD} {ADD An independent candidate for governor or president of the United States in a general election shall not be entitled to establish a political party notwithstanding that such candidate shall receive five percent (5%) of the votes cast as provided in section 17-1-2(f) unless such candidate shall, at the time of filing a declaration of candidacy, simultaneously indicate, on a form provided by the secretary of state, such candidate's intent to establish a political party, together with the name of the political organization which such candidate represents and the names and addresses of the chairman and secretary of such organization. ADD}

{ADD 17-12-16. Qualifying as a political party by petition -- Names of officers -- Endorsements and other official communications. -- ADD} {ADD Any political organization wishing to qualify as a political party by the submission of petitions under section 17-1-2(f) shall, at the time of receiving such petition forms from the board of elections, file with such board, on a form to be provided by the board, the name of the political organization and the names and addresses of its chairman and secretary. If such organization shall later qualify as a political party by the submission of the requisite number of valid signatures, and until the appropriate party committees shall have been established, all endorsements and other official written communications from the party to the board of elections, secretary of state, local boards of canvassers and other state and municipal agencies shall be signed on behalf of the party by the chairman and secretary whose names and addresses are on file with the board of elections as herein required. ADD}

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage; provided, however, that the State Board of Elections, by administrative ruling, may deem to be valid any signatures on petition forms affixed thereto on or after January 1, 1994 but prior to the effective date of this act.