Register to Vote: Select Your State

To register to vote in Rhode Island, you must be:

• A legal resident of Rhode Island
• A citizen of the United States
• At least 18 years of age on or before Election Day
• Your voter registration form must be dropped off or postmarked by the deadline.

Voting at the Polling Place Overview

In order to vote at the polling place, you need to be registered to vote 30 days before the primary or election. If you missed the deadline, in Presidential elections you may be eligible to vote for President/Vice-President Only at your local Board of Canvassers.

If you were already registered to vote in Rhode Island, but moved and did not update your address by the deadline, you may qualify for a Limited Ballot.

Identification

See our Voter ID Section for additional information on identification requirements.

Checking-In

At the polling place the voter must state his or her full name and address to the bipartisan pair of Supervisors at the check-in table. The Supervisors will locate the voter's name and address on a voting list. State law requires that the bipartisan pair of Supervisors repeats the name and address of the voter out in a "loud and distinct voice", in order for any "party checkers", "watchers", or observers in the polling place may hear the name and address as well.

From the voting list, the bipartisan pair of Supervisors will remove a label containing the voter's name and address. This label will be affixed to a Ballot Application. The voter should verify their name and address on the label is correct, and sign the Ballot Application. The bipartisan pair of Supervisors will then initial the Ballot Application, and place the ballot application on a spindle for record-keeping.

If for any reason, the voter's name cannot be located on the voting list by the bipartisan pair of Supervisors, the voter will be directed to the Clerk's table to determine if the voter is in the correct polling place. The voter may have changed his or her address and did not update their record by the voter registration deadline, in which case they may qualify under "fail-safe voting" provisions under state law (see Limited Ballot section). Or, the voter may not be on the voting list for the city/town because their voter registration application was not received by the deadline, so they would need to go to the Board of Canvassers to cast President/Vice-President Only Ballot . Or, if the voter is certain that they registered to vote in the city/town by the deadline, and they are in the correct polling place, they may vote a Provisional Ballot.

Getting the ballot

Once the voter has signed the ballot application, the bipartisan pair of Supervisors will issue the voter a ballot in a secrecy sleeve. The voter will be directed to the next available voting booth.

Marking the ballot

R.I.G.L 17-19-1 defines a "vote" as "any mark made with the appropriate marking device within the optech ballot voting area between the head and tail of the arrow on the computer ballot next to the party, candidate, write-in candidate or question, as is applicable, for whom the voter casts his or her ballot...". Once inside the voting booth, the voter makes his or her selections by connecting the appropriate head and tail of the arrow on the ballot. A voter may also "write-in" a candidate in any office (except in primaries), and connect the head and tail of the arrow next to the space in which they wrote-in the name. For referendum questions, the voter must choose either to "approve" or "reject" the question.