As the Rhode Island's June 2nd Presidential Primary approaches, Rhode Islanders can expect Many more Mail Ballots and far Fewer Polling Sites.

At Polling Sites, Hand Sanitizer will Replace Glad-Handing Politicians. Face Masks will Replace Face Time with Neighbors. And the Presidential Electioneering will culminate in a Sterile Exercise, as Votes are Cast with Six feet of Separation and Disposable Pens.

But most Rhode Islanders won’t leave the comfort of their homes to express their Presidential Preference: This year, amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, State Election Officials are expecting 85% of the Votes to be Cast with Mail Ballots. So for most Voters, the Process of Filling Out your Ballot is going to look more like Paying the Bills at your Dining Room Table than the familiar Election Day Routine.

“It sure isn’t going to look like anything we have ever seen before in Rhode Island,” said John M. Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “We won’t have the traditional pomp and circumstance of the polling place.”

The State will Open 47 Polling Sites around the State, roughly a Quarter of the Number of Locations that would have Opened if Not for COVID-19. But, Marion noted, “The few polling places that will be open will look more like dystopia -- with poll workers garbed in personal protective equipment.”

The State Board of Elections has come with an “In-Person Voting Preliminary Covid-19 Response Plan” that Requires All Poll Workers to Wear Masks and Gloves. Each Worker will Receive at least Five Pairs of Gloves, Two Disposable Face Masks, and One 4-ounce Bottle of Hand Sanitizer.

Voters will be “highly encouraged”, but Not Required, to Wear Face Coverings, and 100 Masks will be Supplied to Each Polling Place for Voters who Request one. Voters will Not be Turned Away for Not Wearing a Face Covering. There Won’t be Thermometers at Polling Places, and Voters Won’t be Screened for Fever. But All Voting Locations will be Set-Up to Allow at least Six feet Between Everyone there at All Times.

Each Voter will Receive a Combination Stylus/Pen that can be used to Check-In on the Electronic Poll Books and to Mark their Ballot in the Voting Booth. Poll Workers will be Instructed to use the Same Stylus/Pen the Entire Day and to Not Share it.

Mail Ballots provide a Way to Protect the Health of Voters and the Health of Poll Workers, who tend to be Older and More Vulnerable to the Virus.
So this year, Rhode Islanders might begin to Create New Traditions, such as Filling Out the Ballot at Home while asking their Kids to do an Online Search on a Candidate’s Positions. The State are Sending out, “I Voted By Mail” Stickers with the Mail Ballots.

The State will have at least One Polling Site Open in each of the State’s 39 Cities and Towns. Providence will have Four Polling Sites, Pawtucket will have Three, and Cranston, Warwick, and Coventry, each will have Two.

On March 23rd, Governor Gina M. Raimondo (D) followed a Board of Elections Recommendation and Issued an Executive Order, moving the State’s Presidential Primary Election from April 28th to June 2nd while calling for a Predominantly Mail Ballot Election. Mail Ballot Applications were sent to the State’s 779,463 Eligible Voters. The Deadline for Applying was Tuesday, May 9th, and the State had received 144,584 Applications as of Wednesday, May 20th, according to Nick Domings, Spokesman for the Secretary of State.

By comparison, the Turnout in Rhode Island for the 2016 Presidential Primary was 184,072 Voters, including 6,411 Mail Ballots. And the 2012 Presidential Primary produced a Turnout of 23,200 Voters, including 2,641 Mail Ballots.

The Ballots were Printed before Candidates Pulled-Out, so the Democratic Primary Ballot will include: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, and Andrew Yang, in addition to Biden. And the Republican Primary Ballot will include: Bill Weld, and Rocque “Rocky” De La Fuente, alongside Trump. Also, Voters will be asked to Choose Delegates to Send to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

Voters should Fill-Out the Ballot, put it in the “Oath Envelope,” and Sign that Envelope. To Guard against Fraud, the Board of Elections will compare that Signature against the Signatures on Mail Ballot Applications. As a further Check, Voters are being asked to put their Driver’s License Number or the Last Four Digits of their Social Security Number on the Oath Envelope as well. Voters should then Place the Oath Envelope in the Larger Prepaid-Postage Envelope, and Mail it back so it Arrives at the Board of Elections by 8 p.m. June 2nd.

In the Governor's Executive Order, She Waived the Requirement for Voters to get the Signatures of Two Witnesses or a Notary on the Mail Ballots. But the Rhode Island Republican Party has Objected, saying that neither Raimondo nor the Board of Elections has the Legal Authority to Suspend Laws “essential to the integrity of an election.” The Republican Party also called for a Prohibition on “Mail Ballot Harvesting”, the Practice of Campaign Workers Collecting and Submitting Mail Ballots. “Although this practice is illegal in other states, it occurs in Rhode Island,” the Party said.

State Republican Chairwoman, Sue Cienki said, “We have no issue with mail ballots. A lot of our voters are older and many do participate in mail ballots.” But Officials should have used the Opportunity to Update the Voter Rolls, and if they wanted to change Security Provisions and Move the Primary, they should have gone to the General Assembly, which the governor said has been “Missing in Action.”

The June 2nd Presidential Primary will provide a “test run” for Mail Ballot Voting in Rhode Island. And Common Cause is urging Rhode Island Officials to Allow the Fall Elections to be held Predominantly via Mail Ballot. The General Assembly would need to make Changes in State Election Law to allow that to happen.










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