100-RICR-20-00-5. Rules and Regulations for Local Boards of Canvassers in the Updating of Voter Registration Records (version Periodic Refile, 02/14/2002 to 08/12/2018)

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR LOCAL BOARDS OF CANVASSERS IN THE PERIODIC UPDATING OF VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS Promulgated by order of the Secretary of State, James R. Langevin RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR LOCAL BOARDS OF CANVASSERS IN THE IN THE PERIODIC UPDATING OF VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS The Secretary of State has promulgated the within rules and regulations relative to the periodic updating of voter registration records of all persons registered to vote in the several cities and towns of the State of Rhode Island as mandated by section 17-9.1-27 of the Rhode Island General Laws. Pursuant to said section, the Office of the Secretary of State shall update the central voter register and may direct the local boards of canvassers to perform such updating for their list of registered voters. The rules adopted by the Secretary of State are established in accordance with Title 17, Chapter 6 of the Rhode Island General Laws of 1956, as amended. Said rules and regulations are established in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act (R.I.G.L. Section 42-35-1, et seq.) and 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 to properly administer and to provide uniformity to the periodic updating of voter registration records, each of the local canvassing authorities shall be required to maintain and update their records as follows: The addresses of registered voters in each city or town in Rhode Island shall be maintained by the local canvassing authority in the standardized format set forth by the United States Postal Service. The local canvassing authority shall provide its list of registered voters to the Office of the Secretary of State in the format as set forth in rules and regulations entitled “Rules and Regulations for Local Boards of Canvassers in the Submission of Information Required to Maintain the Central Voter Register” adopted by the Office of the Secretary of State. For those local canvassing authorities providing their voter registration list as of September 30, 1999 in accordance with the format set forth in the above cited rules and regulations, the Office of the Secretary of State will assist them by assuming the responsibility and expense for sending the local canvassing authority voting list to a USPS certified vendor for comparison against the list provided by the NCOA Program. Local voter registration information for the period ending September 30, 1999 must be received by the Office of the Secretary of State not later than October 5, 1999 in order to be included. The Office of the Secretary of State will then provide the local canvassing authority with the information obtained from the NCOA Program. This information will be provided to local boards of canvassers on hard copy and on disk and will contain address standardization as needed and will also contain a field(s) containing the change of address on file with the United States Postal Service where applicable. For those local canvassing authorities that do not provide their information as indicated above, the Office of the Secretary of State shall have the discretion to direct said local board to compare their voting list against the information available through the NCOA Program without the assistance of the Office of the Secretary of State. Section 17-9.1-27 further states that when the NCOA Program detects an address change for any voter, the local boards of canvassers shall institute the confirmation process described in section 17-9.1-26. Accordingly, all local board of canvassers shall be responsible for conducting the confirmation process, maintaining all documents associated with same, and updating all records as necessary as mandated by state law. Confirmation and/or verification mailings shall be conducted as set forth in Title 17 and in accordance with the rules and regulations being adopted by the Rhode Island State Board of Elections.