Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 410 - Board of Elections › Chapter 20 - Elections › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 12 - Polling Place Conduct (410-RICR-20-00-12) › Section 410-RICR-20-00-12.3 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
"Act of voting" shall include the period of time in which
					 a voter has entered a polling place for the sole purpose of casting a ballot.
					 The Act of Voting begins when the voter enters a Polling Place and begins
					 approach to the supervisor's table. It concludes when the voter has inserted
					 the ballot into the optical scan reader and exits the Polling Place.
"Bake sales" means the sale of food items such as cookies,
					 cakes and non-alcoholic beverages for raising funds in support of non-profit
					 and charitable organizations.
"Checkers" means representatives of each recognized
					 political party bearing credentials signed by the proper ward or town committee
					 chairperson who maintains a record of who has voted at the Polling
					 Place.
"Election official" shall include the Board of Elections
					 and its designees, the Local Canvassing Authority and its designees, including
					 but not limited to, Moderator/Wardens, Clerks and Supervisors. No person shall
					 be appointed or serve as an Election Official who has been convicted, found
					 guilty, pleaded guilty or nolo contendere, or placed on a deferred or suspended
					 sentence, or on probation, for any crime which involves moral turpitude or
					 which constitutes a violation of any of the election or caucus laws of this or
					 any other state. No candidate for any office to be filled at any election shall
					 be appointed as an Election Official. Every Election Official shall make an
					 affidavit before some member of the proper board of canvassers attesting that
					 he or she is eligible to serve as an Election Official, consistent with the
					 requirements of state law.
"Party representative" means any credentialed party
					 checker, runner or watcher as designated under R.I. Gen. Laws §
										17-19-22.
"Political literature" shall include any paper, circular
					 or other document designed or tending to aid, injure or defeat any candidate
					 for public office or any political party or any question submitted to the
					 voters. Documents that constitute political literature include any flyer,
					 campaign button, or any item of clothing that contains any electioneering
					 communication, including words or images, or election symbol attributed to a
					 campaign that promotes the election or defeat of any candidate or ballot
					 question that appears on the ballot.
"Polling place observer" means any person observing the
					 election at a Polling Place on behalf of a party or candidate.
"Polling place" means the room or area in a building which
					 contains voting booths and where voting is conducted at any primary or election
					 for the election of any candidate, write-in candidate, party or ballot
					 question.
"Railed" or "Enclosed voting area" means the enclosed area
					 within the polling place where ballots are cast. The railed or enclosed area
					 shall be delineated by tables or other means having one entrance and one exit
					 in the area within which ballots are cast.
"Runners" means those representatives of any recognized
					 party who shall retrieve whatever list or memoranda the Checkers have prepared
					 and shall be allowed to come to the table for the Checkers at frequent
					 intervals.
"Supervisors" shall be assigned by the Warden/Moderator in
					 bipartisan pairs at the Polling Place and shall be in charge of the voting list
					 and shall announce the voter's name and certify his or her identity before
					 permitting the person to enter the Railed or Enclosed Voting Area. The
					 Warden/Moderator may also assign additional duties to the Supervisors such as
					 the oversight of and assistance to voters while they are in and about the
					 voting booths.
"Wardens" or "Moderators" shall have general supervisory
					 powers at each Polling Place and shall be responsible for supervising the
					 overall orderly and efficient conduct at the Polling Place and shall ensure
					 compliance with the elections laws and regulations governing polling place
					 conduct, including the casting of ballots.
"Watcher" means a representative of each recognized
					 political party bearing credentials signed by the proper ward or term committee
					 chairperson. A Watcher shall be allowed outside the enclosed voting area to
					 observe the voting and to assist the Checkers.