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6/26/2024
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Governor signs bill allowing independent voters to automatically disaffiliate after primary voting
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STATE HOUSE — Gov. Dan McKee has signed legislation introduced by Rep. Patricia A. Serpa and Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis allowing independent voters in primary elections to automatically disaffiliate.
Under previous law, when a voter who was not affiliated with any political party chose to vote in a party primary, that voter was automatically registered as being affiliated with that party. Those voters couldchoose to disaffiliate immediately by filling out a form.
The new law (2024-H 7662, 2024-S 2418A) makes that disaffiliation automatic for all independent voters.
“Most voters in Rhode Island are unaffiliated with any political party, but often choose to vote in party primaries, whether it be Democrat or Republican,” said Representative Serpa (D-Dist. 27, West Warwick, Coventry). “And as voter history suggests, most of those voters would prefer to remain unaffiliated after the primary is over. This bill would allow those unaffiliated voters to remain unaffiliated without having to fill out a form after the election. That not only makes it easier for the voters, but for election officials who spend hundreds of hours after every election cycle processing thousands of these forms.”
The law also solves the growing problem of those who vote in primary elections through the use of mail ballots. While those who vote in person can sign a disaffiliation form at the polls, those who mail in their ballots receive no such form and are sometimes surprised to find later that they now have a party affiliation.
“Almost half ofRhode Islanders consider themselves independent,” said Senator Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich). “Now that more voting is done through mail-in and provisional ballots, this will stop disenfranchising voters who just forgot to fill out paperwork after the last election.”
The measure takes effect immediately.
For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922
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