Student Voting Project | Rhode Island

Voting at School

ID Requirements

Only first-time voters whose Rhode Island driver’s license number or Social Security number have not been verified by the state must show ID, which they can do at the polls or before Election Day, including by submitting a copy with a mail-in registration form or an absentee ballot. Acceptable ID includes: current and valid photo ID, including student ID, or a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government document with your name and address on it. 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.

Registration Requirements

The registration deadline is thirty days before an election, and mail-in forms must be postmarked by that date.

Residency Requirements

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're absent, you intend to return. While the phrase "indefinite period" has been used in other states to limit the ability of students who aren't 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.

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. Brown University students can also use their student ID cards if they are listed in the official Brown University student directory.

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've 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 might 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 registration based on your residency by filing a sworn affidavit with the local board of elections. The board will give you notice and hold a hearing, where you may be questioned about the facts surrounding your residency. If the challenge is sustained, your registration will be canceled; you can appeal that decision to the state board of elections. If your residency is challenged at the polls, you will be required to vote by provisional ballot.

Absentee Requirement

If you will be absent from the town where you’re registered to vote on Election Day because you’re a student somewhere else, you can vote absentee. You can download a blank application from the web site of the Secretary of State. Your application must be received by your local board of canvassers by 4:00 pm on the 21st day before an election.Your application will have to be either notarized or witnessed by two people.

Your absentee ballot also has to be notarized or signed by two witnesses. 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.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

Only first-time voters whose Rhode Island driver’s license number or Social Security number have not been verified by the state must show ID, which they can do at the polls or before Election Day, including by submitting a copy with a mail-in registration form or an absentee ballot. Acceptable ID includes: current and valid photo ID, including student ID, or a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government document with your name and address on it. 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.

Registration Requirements

The registration deadline is thirty days before an election, and mail-in forms must be postmarked by that date.

Residency Requirements

Rhode Island's written laws require 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're absent, you intend to return. While the phrase "indefinite period" has been used in other states to limit the ability of students who aren't 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.

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. Brown University students can also use their student ID cards if they are listed in the official Brown University student directory.

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've 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 might 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 registration based on your residency by filing a sworn affidavit with the local board of elections. The board will give you notice and hold a hearing, where you may be questioned about the facts surrounding your residency. If the challenge is sustained, your registration will be canceled; you can appeal that decision to the state board of elections.
If your residency is challenged at the polls, you will be required to vote by provisional ballot.

Absentee Requirement

If you will be absent from the town where you’re registered to vote on Election Day because you’re a student somewhere else, you can vote absentee. You can download a blank application from the web site of the Secretary of State. Your application must be received by your local board of canvassers by 4:00 pm on the 21st day before an election.Your application will have to be either notarized or witnessed by two people.

Your absentee ballot also has to be notarized or signed by two witnesses. 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.

[1] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-1-3.1(a).

[2] Interview with Steve Quirk, Rhode Island Board of Elections (July 18, 2008).

[3] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-1-3.1(b).

[4] CRIR 32-000-008.

[5] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-9.1-28.

[6] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-9.1-30.

[7] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-19-27 (2008).

[8] R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-9.1-3.

[9] 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.

[10] CRIR 32-000-023

[11] Interview with Steve Quirk, Rhode Island Board of Elections (July 18, 2008).