Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 410 - Board of Elections › Chapter 20 - Elections › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 9 - Challenging of Mail Ballots (410-RICR-20-00-9) › Section 410-RICR-20-00-9.3 - Guidelines

Current through June 14, 2024
A. The burden of proof in challenging a mail
				  ballot as not obtained and/or cast in conformance with R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter
				  17-20 et seq. is on the person challenging the ballot. However, once the
				  irregularity is shown, the burden of proof shall shift to the person defending
				  the ballot to demonstrate that it is the ballot of the voter it purports to be,
				  that the voter was eligible to vote by mail ballot and that all of the
				  applicable requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 17-20 et seq. were complied
				  with.
B. The Board of Elections
				  shall, on its own motion, disqualify any mail ballot which it determines, based
				  upon a preponderance of the evidence, was not voted by the elector who
				  purportedly cast it, or was voted by an elector who was not eligible to vote by
				  mail ballot, or was not obtained and voted in the manner prescribed by R.I.
				  Gen. Laws Chapter 17-20 et seq. The Board of Elections may take such action
				  even in the absence of a challenge to the ballot and may take such action at
				  any time prior to the separation of the ballot from its application and
				  certifying envelope.
C. If a ballot
				  can be reasonably identified to be that of the voter it purports to be and if
				  it can reasonably be determined that the voter was eligible to vote by mail
				  ballot and if the requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws §
										17-20-2.1 were complied with, it
				  should not be subject to frivolous or technical challenge.
D. No ballot transmitted under the provisions
				  of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 17-20 et seq. shall be rejected for failure of the
				  voter to affix sufficient postage, nor shall any such ballot be invalid by
				  reason of the voter writing upon the inner envelope the name of the community
				  within a town in place of the name of said town.
E. The requirements set forth by R.I. Gen.
				  Laws Chapter 17-20 et seq. controlling mail ballot eligibility and the
				  procedure by which such ballots are obtained and cast shall be strictly applied
				  so as to assure the integrity of the electoral system. No mail ballot which was
				  not obtained and/or cast in material conformance with the provisions of R.I.
				  Gen. Laws Title 17 shall be certified by the Board of Elections.
F. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.I.
				  Gen. Laws §
										34-12-3 to the contrary, any mail
				  ballot application or mail ballot certification notarized by a person who is
				  not, in fact, a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths
				  and take acknowledgements shall be void.
G. A ballot shall not be disqualified merely
				  because the elector did not sign his or her full name as it is listed on the
				  voter registration list but omitted or included a middle initial or name or
				  abbreviated a first and/or middle name or made a similar omission or inclusion
				  so long as the Board of Elections can reasonably determine the identity of the
				  voter.
H. The inner or certifying
				  envelope may be challenged if the signature (or mark) of the voter does not
				  appear thereon.
I. A ballot shall
				  not be disqualified merely because said ballot was submitted by means of
				  facsimile. Any qualifying elector who is outside the continental United States
				  and obtains and casts a ballot in conformance with R.I. Gen. Laws §§
										17-20-2(1) or
				  17-20-2(7), 17-
				  20-2.1(d)(1), and 17-20-13 may vote such ballot through facsimile.
J. The ballot may be challenged if the
				  signature (or mark) of the voter is not duly notarized or the names and
				  addresses of the two (2) attesting witnesses do not appear on the application
				  and inner envelope excluding the following exceptions:
1. pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §§
											17-20-2(3) and
				  17-20-2.1(d)(3) a
				  voter who applies for a mail ballot in accordance with these two sections
				  requires a notary or the names and addresses of two (2) witnesses on the
				  application but not on the inner envelope;
2. pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §§
											17-20-2(7) and
				  17-20-2.1(d)(7) a
				  voter who applies for and receives an absentee ballot in accordance with these
				  two sections does not require the signatures of two (2) witnesses or a notary
				  on the application or certifying envelope; and
3. pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §
											17-20-6.1 a voter who applies for
				  and receives an absentee ballot through the use of a Federal Post Card
				  Application (FPCA) does not require the signatures of two (2) witnesses or a
				  notary on the application or certifying envelope.