Legislation would enable early voting

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 4/16/15

Election days may just become a little less hectic for everyone thanks to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea’s newest legislation.

The Department of State’s Voting and Elections Modernization …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Legislation would enable early voting

Posted

Election days may just become a little less hectic for everyone thanks to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea’s newest legislation.

The Department of State’s Voting and Elections Modernization Act (VEMA) was unveiled Tuesday at the State House and will take several steps in updating Rhode Island’s voting processes.

Gorbea said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon, “During my campaign I told voters I was going to work to make the voter experience fair, fast and accurate. This is the first major step in doing that.”

One facet of this legislation would allow Rhode Islanders to register to vote online as well as update their information “24/7.” Currently, 24 states across the U.S. have online registration, and Gorbea said that it would be “fairly simple” to implement because the state already has the online systems to create a database.

Online registration, a “tried and tested” initiative, increased voter participation, especially for younger voters from the ages of 18 to 29.

If the legislation were to pass, Rhode Island will also join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). The center cross-references the information of its members to “really clean up voter registration” by removing ineligible voters from databases.

Gorbea said, “We can know exactly who is and isn’t voted and get to information we wouldn’t have otherwise.”

According to Gorbea, the current voter records have an estimated 54,000 bad addresses, 3,000 deceased voters and 2,600 duplicates clogging up the records.

“We can know exactly who can vote,” Gorbea said. “Since we print everything based on our databases this can really save us some money.”

VEMA would also make in-person voting available 28 days before an election, a voting law 32 states and the District of Columbia already have in place.

Similarly, for 2016’s elections there will be voting the weekend before elections and, based on the success of weekend voting in 2016 and 2018, more chances to vote on weekends will be phased in.

Warwick Senator Erin Lynch, who introduced the legislation, said in a press release, “Early voting encourages citizens to cast their ballots because they have more opportunity to do so. We should accommodate the varied and hectic schedules of Rhode Islanders who wish to get to the polls.”

“Elections have to adapt to our voters. Citizens shouldn’t have to choose between voting and their career or family responsibilities. We have a real opportunity here to make voting easier than ever,” Gorbea said.

The legislation also limits the submission of mail-in ballots to only the voters themselves, a family member or legal guardian, the postal service and the Board of Elections to ensure votes aren’t compromised.

“My goal is to empower Rhode Islanders by increasing their voting participation. We can increase voter participation by modernizing our antiquated voting laws,” Gorbea said in the press release. “Using everyday technology, we can better accommodate the work and family responsibilities of modern society. It’s time to update our election laws.”

Gorbea is cautiously optimistic about this legislation and has received a lot of support on the bill already.

 John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island, said, “These measures are an important step toward making government more accessible and ensuring fair and accurate elections.”

Gorbea is also excited to continue her work on easing and streamlining the voter experience.

She said, “I am interested in what the future of voting is going to look like.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here