RI's Primary Election Results Still Undetermined

PROVIDENCE, RI — Primary election night in Rhode Island looked a lot different this year. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, many voters chose to cast their ballot by mail, meaning final results aren't expected until later this week.

The Rhode Island Board of Elections expects all mail ballots to be tabulated by Thursday. As of Tuesday night, more than 33,000 mail ballots has been returned to the department, according to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea's office. Here's a look at the numbers, as of 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday:

• 43,627 mail ballots sent to voters
• 33,665 mail ballots returned to the Board of Elections
• 9,962 mail ballots unreturned

Mail ballots that were returned to drop boxes around the state were delivered to the Board of Elections Wednesday morning, which will impact the final totals.

Tuesday night's results only reflected ballots cast in-person, at the polls on Primary Day. In the coming days, results will be broken down on the department's website by polling place, emergency ballot and mail ballots.

On election night, incumbents led the pack, holding commanding leads in most races, particularly state senate and house races. Congressman Jim Langevin, who represents Rhode Island's second district, held firm against Democratic challenger Dylan Conley. On the Republican side, Robert Lancia dominated opponent Donald Robbio, making him Langevin's likely challenger in the general Election. Both Senator Jack Reed and Congressman David Cicilline ran unopposed.

The same trend was the case in State House races, with incumbents holding the lead at the end of the night. One notable exception was Providence Rep. Moira Walsh, who conceded to Nathan Biah before the night was over.

"Congrats to all the district 3 voters who finally got an opportunity to vote for a man who has lived their experience," Walsh said in a statement. "I've loved being your representative but I'm so happy for my neighbors who got the rep they wanted."

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