Student Voting Guide | Rhode Island
Registration
http://www.elections.state.ri.us/ (registration form available online)
The registration deadline is thirty days before an election, and mail-in forms must be postmarked by that date.[1] Rhode Island allows preregistration, which means you can register to vote when you are 16 years old.[2]
Residency
Rhode Island law requires that, in order to be a resident for the purposes of voting, you must (i) be physically present where you want to vote, (ii) intend to live there for an “indefinite period,” and (iii) think of your Rhode Island residence as the place to which, when you are absent, you intend to return.[3] The law also lists a number of pieces of evidence that will be considered proof of your residency, including: your car registration address; your tax return address; your credit card bill address; your bank account address; the address your employer has on file; or the address you give to the Post Office when filing a change-of-address form.[4] Brown University students can also use their student ID cards if they are listed in the official Brown University student directory.[5]
At School. While the phrase “indefinite period” has been used in other states to limit the ability of students who are not sure of their plans after graduation to establish residence, the Rhode Island Board of Elections has stated that in Rhode Island, students residing in their college communities are eligible to register and vote in those communities.[6]
At Home. Students who lived in Rhode Island before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their Rhode Island voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ Rhode Island address), should have no problem doing so unless they are already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Rhode Island allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you will lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered abandonment of your Rhode Island residency, some judges or officials might view it as such.
Challenges to Residency. Another voter can challenge your eligibility to vote based on your residency by filing a sworn affidavit with the local board of elections.[7] The board will give you notice and hold a hearing, where you may be questioned about the facts surrounding your residency.[8] If the challenge is sustained, your registration will be canceled; you can appeal that decision to the state board of elections.[9]
Your eligibility to vote based on residency cannot be challenged at the polls.[10]
Identification
Only first-time voters[11] whose Rhode Island driver’s license number or Social Security number has not been verified by the state must show ID. Voters can do this at the polls or before Election Day, which includes submitting a copy with a mail-in registration form or an absentee ballot. Acceptable forms of ID include: a current and valid photo ID, including student ID; a utility bill; a bank statement; a paycheck; or a government document with your name and address on it.[12] You can show a cell phone bill or a student housing bill, as long as it has your name and address on it, and online printouts are accepted as well.[13]
Absentee Voting
http://sos.ri.gov/documents/elections/E-1-2010.pdf
If you will be absent from the town where you are registered to vote on Election Day because you are a student somewhere else, you can vote absentee.[14] You can download a blank application from the web site of the Secretary of State at the link above. Your application must be received by your local board of canvassers by 4:00 pm on the 21st day before an election.[15] Your application will have to be either notarized or witnessed by two people.[16]
Your absentee ballot also has to be notarized or signed by two witnesses.[17] You need to return your absentee ballot to the state board of elections, not the local board, and it must be received by 9 p.m. on Election Day.[18]
Last Updated in April 2010
[1] R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 17-9.1-3(a); 17-9.1-9(b).
[2] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-9.1-33(b) (effective January 5, 2010).
[3] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-1-3.1(a) (2009).
[4] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-1-3.1(b) (2009).
[5] 32 -000-008 R.I. Code R. (2010).
[6] Interview with Steve Quirk, Rhode Island Board of Elections (July 18, 2008).
[7] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-9.1-28(a) (2009).
[8] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-9.1-28.
[9] R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 17-9.1-28(d); 17-9.1-30.
[10] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-19-27.
[11] Rhode Island expects to change their identification rule to apply only to first-time voters who register by mail whose identifying numbers can’t be verified, to be in effect by November 2008. Rhode Island Board of Elections, “Registering to Vote”, available at http://www.elections.ri.gov/voting/registration.php.
[12] 32-000-023 R.I. Code R. (2010); see also Rhode Island Board of Elections, “Registering to Vote”, available at http://www.elections.ri.gov/voting/registration.php (last visited on April 23, 2010).
[13] Interview with Steve Quirk, Rhode Island Board of Elections (July 18, 2008).
[14] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-2(2) (2009).
[15] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-2.1(c).
[16] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-2.1(d)(2).
[17] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-23 (2009).
[18] R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 17-20-16, 17-20-19.
