Rhode Islanders Encouraged To Fill Out Mail Ballot Applications

CRANSTON, RI — Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea is reminding voters to check their mailboxes for mail ballot applications for the upcoming presidential preference primary on June 2. All Rhode Island voters are encouraged to vote by mail to ensure a safe election during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gorbea's office sent all registered voters an appliction to vote by mail in the upcoming primary. Doing so offered two benefits, Gorbea said: offering a safe, secure way to vote and helping to clean up the state's voter rolls.

Removing voters from state rolls is strictly regulated by state and federal law. In particular, specific communities cannot be targeted for removal. Because of budget issues, Gorbea's office said, the state has not sent a statewide elections mailing since 2006. This mailing was funded by federal coronavirus-related relief money.

Voters are marked inactive if mail is returned as undeliverable. Inactive voters are still eleigble to vote, but can legally be removed from voter rolls if they do not cast a ballot within the next two federal elections, or four years.

"I’m calling on all Rhode Islanders who receive a mail ballot application for someone who no longer lives at that address to return the application to my office as undeliverable," Sec. Gorbea said. "This allows us to start the four-year process, under federal law, of legally removing that person from the voter rolls. Your participation is a critical part in helping us maintain accurate voter lists and protecting the integrity of every vote."

Since she became secretary of state in 2015, Gorbea's office has removed more than 130,000 outdated registrations. Many voters fail to update their voter information when they move, leaving to out-of-date records. Voters can check and update their information online.

"Rhode Island has been a national leader in maintaining accurate voting lists," said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. "Secretary Gorbea joined the Electronic Registration Information Center several years ago, which has grown to thirty states and helps identify voters who have moved so their records can be updated with the correct address. Members of ERIC, including Rhode Island, benefit from some of the most accurate voter lists in the country."