100-RICR-20-00-1. Placement of Candidates and Local Referenda/Questions on Election Ballots (version Periodic Refile, 02/14/2002 to 03/20/2018)

RULES AND REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN CONNECTION WITH THE BALLOT PLACEMENT OF CANDIDATES ON PRIMARY AND ELECTION BALLOTS PURSUANT TO TITLE 17 OF THE GENERAL LAWS OF RHODE ISLAND _________________________________________________________________________________ The Secretary of State has promulgated the within rules and regulations relative to the ballot placement of candidates on election ballots in accordance with the provisions of Title 17 of the Rhode Island General Laws of 1956, as amended. Said rules and regulations are established pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act (R.I.G.L. Section 42-35-1, et al.) and are available for public inspection, submissions or requests at the Office of the Secretary of State, Documents and Records Division, State House, Providence, Rhode Island. In order for the Secretary of State to provide for the preparation of the ballot to be used in a primary or election, the following rules and regulations shall apply with respect to the placement of candidates on optical scan ballots. I. ELECTION BALLOT A. Determining Placement of Political Parties The Office of the Secretary of State shall conduct a lottery to determine the order in which the recognized political parties will appear on the ballot for all federal, state and local offices. The date, time and location of the lottery shall be determined and announced by the Office of the Secretary of State. At the time of the lottery, the Office of the Secretary of State shall announce the names of the political organizations that qualify as political parties as defined in RIGL, Section 17-1-2. The Office of the Secretary of State shall then proceed to conduct the lottery to determine the order in which the political parties shall appear on the ballot. B. Determining Placement of Independent Candidates Pursuant to Section 17-19-9.1, the Office of the Secretary of State shall conduct a lottery to determine the order in which independent candidates shall appear on the ballot. Each local board of canvassers shall also conduct a lottery to determine the order in which independent candidates for local offices in their city or town shall appear on the ballot. C. For Races Where the Elector Votes for One Candidate Only 1 Pursuant to Section 17-19-9.1 of the Rhode Island General Laws, political party candidates shall appear on the election ballot in a vertical listing immediately below the title of the office sought and preceding the listing of independent candidates. The Office of the Secretary of State shall list the political party candidates in the order determined by the lottery for their respective parties. In the event, there is no candidate representing a particular political party for a particular office appearing on the ballot, the Secretary of State shall proceed to list the name of the political party candidate for the next party chosen by lottery for which there is a candidate. Samples of these ballot layouts are contained in Appendix A which is attached and incorporated by reference to these Rules and Regulations. D. For Races Where the Elector Votes for More than One Candidate When the race appearing on the ballots provides for a multiple vote situation, i.e. council-at-large where the voter is instructed to ‘Vote for any 3’, the Secretary of State shall list the political parties in the order chosen by lottery in the following manner. A candidate representing the first political party chosen by lottery shall occupy the first position beneath the title of the office being sought; a candidate representing the second political party chosen by lottery shall occupy the second position beneath the title of office being sought; and so forth so that a candidate representing each remaining political party shall be listed in the next succeeding positions. During this process if there is no candidate to be listed for a particular political party, the Secretary of State shall proceed to list the next party chosen by lottery for which there is a candidate. This sequence shall then be repeated using the next candidate on the certification list for each political party and shall continue to be repeated until all of the political party candidates shall be listed. The order in which local party candidates shall be placed in their respective party positions shall be determined by the order in which the candidates were certified to the Office of the Secretary of State by the local board of canvassers, based upon the past practice of the municipality, the local charter, or the submission by the local party committees, as the case may be. A sample of this ballot layout is contained in Appendix B which is attached and incorporated by reference to these Rules and Regulations. II. PRIMARY BALLOT A. Placement of Endorsed Candidates for Federal Offices, General Offices, 2 General Assembly Offices and Local Offices Where the Elector Votes for One Candidate Pursuant to Section 17-15-8 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the names of candidate(s) having the endorsement of their party shall be printed first below the title of the office they seek. B. Placement of Endorsed Local Candidates Where the Elector Votes for More Than One Candidate In the case where there is more than one endorsed candidate to be listed for a particular local office, the endorsed candidates shall be listed in the order in which the candidates were certified to the Office of the Secretary of State by the local board of canvassers, based upon the past practice of the municipality, the local charter, or the submission by the local party committees, as the case may be. C. Determining Placement of Unendorsed Party Candidates for Federal Offices, General Offices, General Assembly Offices Pursuant to Section 17-15-8 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Office of the Secretary of State shall conduct a lottery to determine the order in which the unendorsed candidates for the office of United States Senator, United States Representative, Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, General Treasurer, State Senator and State Representative will appear on the ballot. The date, time and location of the lottery shall be determined and announced by the Office of the Secretary of State. D. Determining Placement of Unendorsed Candidates for Local Offices Pursuant to law, unendorsed party candidates for local offices will be listed following the endorsed candidates in alphabetical order. E. Placement of State Party Committee Candidates Where the Elector Votes for One Candidate Only The name of the endorsed candidate shall be printed first below the title of the office he/she seeks. Unendorsed candidates for the same state party committee office shall be listed after the name of the endorsed candidate and shall be listed in alphabetical order. A sample of this ballot layout is contained in Appendix C which is attached and incorporated by reference to these Rules and Regulations. F. Placement of Senatorial and Representative District Committee Candidates 3 Where the Elector Votes for More Than One Candidate In the case where there is more than one endorsed candidate to be listed for a particular party committee office, the endorsed candidates shall be listed in the order in which they appear on the endorsement filed pursuant to Section 17-12-11 of the Rhode Island General Laws. Unendorsed candidates for the same office shall be listed after the names of the endorsed candidates and shall be listed in alphabetical order. A sample of this ballot layout is contained in Appendix C which is attached and incorporated by reference to these Rules and Regulations. G. Placement of Local Party Committee Candidates Where the Elector Votes for More Than One Candidate In the case where there is more than one endorsed candidate to be listed for a particular party local committee office, the endorsed candidates shall be listed in the order in which they were certified to the Office of the Secretary of State by the local board of canvassers, based upon the past practice of the municipality, the local charter, or the submission by the local party committees, as the case may be. Unendorsed candidates for the same office shall be listed after the names of the endorsed candidates and shall be listed in alphabetical order. A sample of this ballot layout is contained in Appendix C which is attached and incorporated by reference to these Rules and Regulations. III. Candidate Listing on Ballot A. Election Ballots For party candidates, the name of the political party shall be listed immediately below the candidate’s name; for independent candidates, the name of the political organization as it appears on the declaration or the word “Independent” if there is no political organization listed on the declaration of candidacy shall appear in small print below the candidate’s name. B. Primary Ballots The name of the endorsed candidate shall be listed with an asterisk (*) preceding the candidate’s name. 4 C. The Order of the Races on the Ballot The offices to be elected shall appear on the ballot in the following order: Presidential Electors United States Senator United States Representative Governor Lieutenant Governor Secretary of State Attorney General General Treasurer Senator in General Assembly Representative in General Assembly Local Offices (in the order certified by local board of canvassers) Senatorial District Committee (on primary ballot only) Representative District Committee (on primary ballot only) State Committeeman (on primary ballot only) State Committeewoman (on primary ballot only) Local town and ward committees (on primary ballot only) 5 Appendix A Results of Sample Lottery for Illustration Purposes Only: Republican Reform Cool Moose Democrat Example of a ballot layout where each political party has a candidate running for the office and there are several independent candidates GOVERNOR Vote for 1 John SMITH REPUBLICAN Mary JONES REFORM Joe BLACK COOL MOOSE Bill WHITE DEMOCRAT Joe KING Green Party Mary PRINTER Independent Jim BROWN Libertarian Example of a ballot layout where not every political party has a candidate for a particular office and there are several independent candidates MAYOR Vote for 1 Mary JONES REFORM Bill WHITE DEMOCRAT Joe KING Green Party Mary PRINTER Independent Jim BROWN Libertarian 6 Appendix B Results of Sample Lottery for Illustration Purposes Only: Republican Reform Cool Moose Democrat Certification of Candidates for Illustration Purposes Only: Republican Reform Cool Moose Democrat John Smith Ann Johnson Jim Silver Bill White Joe Black Bob Gold Joe Jones Tom Blue Mary Adams Example of a ballot layout where there is a “Vote for 3” situation, not all of the political parties have 3 candidates each running for the office, and there are independent candidates TOWN COUNCIL Vote for any 3 John SMITH REPUBLICAN Ann JOHNSON REFORM Jim SILVER COOL MOOSE Bill WHITE DEMOCRAT Joe BLACK REPUBLICAN Bob GOLD COOL MOOSE Joe JONES DEMOCRAT Tom BLUE REPUBLICAN Mary ADAMS DEMOCRAT Joe KING Green Party Mary PRINTER Independent Jim BROWN Libertarian 7 Appendix C Example of a ballot layout for Democratic State Committeeman where there is more than one unendorsed candidate running for the office STATE COMMITTEEMAN Vote for 1 *John SMITH John BLACK Joe JONES Bill WHITE Example of a ballot layout for Representative District Committee where 3 members are elected to the committee and Local Ward Committee where 5 members are elected to the committee. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT COMMITTEE Vote for any 3 WARD COMMITTEE Vote for any 5 *John SMITH *Jack WHITE *John JONES *Mary JONES *Ann BLACK *Bill SMITH Bill ADAMS *Ann ADAMS Joe GOLD *John DOE Mike JOHNSON Bill BROWN Bob SILVER Mike GREEN Mary WHITE Martha WASHINGTON 8