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Rhode Island voter turnout tops 25 percent on final day of early voting • Rhode Island Current

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Rhode Island voter turnout tops 25 percent on final day of early voting • Rhode Island Current

More than 25% of Rhode Island's registered voters had already cast a ballot in the Nov. 5 election as of 4:45 p.m. Monday, after early voting closed, according to the Rhode Island Department of State Voter Turnout Tracker.

The 219,463 Rhode Islanders who voted by mail or early in person on Monday represent more than 40% of the total voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election. The 2020 election saw 64% Rhode Island voter turnout, with nearly two-thirds voting by mail or through in-person early “emergency” voting due to the pandemic. In 2016, the overall voter turnout was almost 60%.

This year marks the first presidential election cycle with expanded mail-in voting and regular, in-person early voting times in Rhode Island – thanks to a law passed in June 2022 — making it difficult to compare voting behavior this year with previous election cycles, said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island.

“We’re just getting used to new voting patterns as these choices increase,” Marion said in an interview Monday. “It will take a while for patterns to emerge.”

However, Marion was surprised that early in-person voting appeared to be more popular with Rhode Island voters than absentee voting. in contrast to trends in other states that offer both absentee voting and in-person, early voting.

More than 171,000 Rhode Islanders had voted early in person as of Monday, compared to more than 48,000 who cast their ballots by mail.

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A queue outside Warwick Town Hall on Friday

Enthusiasm for voting ahead of Election Day was strongest in Warwick, where more than 16,000 voters participated through early in-person voting or absentee voting. Mayor Frank Picozzi pointed to Warwick's high voter turnout in past presidential election cycles as an explanation for the strong numbers before Tuesday.

However, unlike other state or local candidates, Picozzi has not put early voting at the forefront of his own re-election campaign.

“As long as people vote, I don’t care how they do it,” Picozzi said in an interview Monday morning.

Picozzi, an independent seeking his second term, cast his vote on the first day of early voting on Oct. 16. City Hall was quiet then, which wasn't the case Friday when voters waited more than an hour at peak times to cast ballots, Picozzi said.

Reports on social media again showed long queues snaking around Warwick Town Hall on Monday.

But in neighboring Cranston, there were no lines that lasted longer than a minute, despite several days of record-breaking early voting numbers, said Nick Lima, city elections director.

Weekend hours in four communities

Cranston was one of four communities, along with Providence, East Providence and North Kingstown, to extend early voting hours into the weekend. On Saturday, more than 1,500 voters came to the Pastore Youth Center on Gansett Avenue in Cranston during scheduled early voting times, Lima said.

“Other than parking being a little tight, it wasn’t a problem,” Lima said.

The Cranston Board of Canvassers moved its early voting location from City Hall to the Youth Center to accommodate expected larger crowds.

Lima saw high turnout in the presidential primary, along with a variety of interesting state and local elections. In addition to a controversial mayoral contest All nine seats on the City Council are in contention between Republican Mayor Ken Hopkins and his Democratic challenger, Councilman Robert Ferri.

A sign directs early voters to Providence City Hall. The city leads the state in the number of mail-in ballots submitted — more than 5,600 as of Monday. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

Absentee voting is most popular in Providence

Providence recorded the third-highest number of ballots cast or mailed on Monday, with over 5,600 mail-in ballots, but also the highest number of mail-in ballots. That reflects a “local culture” in the capital where candidates make postal voting a central part of their strategy, Marion said.

“Campaigns adapt their mobilization tactics to the options available,” Marion said. “Just as campaigns in Providence are emphasizing mail-in voting, it may well be that campaigns in Warwick are emphasizing early voting.”

The lack of contentious state and local elections across Providence could also work to the city's advantage by racking up votes ahead of Election Day. Research suggests that voters who are undecided are more likely to wait until voting day to vote.

All three cities with the most early voting — Warwick, Cranston and Providence — supported Biden in 2020. Several polls, including one The University of New Hampshire poll was released Sundayshow that Rhode Island voters are supporting Harris by double-digit percentage points this year, although certain cities and towns in the western part of the state will be a close call between Harris and Trump.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day in all cities and towns, except Block Island, where polls will open at 9 a.m Voters can find their polling place on Election Day by searching for their election results online Here.

Absentee ballots must be returned to the Board of Elections via a secure drop box, local election office or in-person polling location by 8 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.

Rhode Island does not allow registration for local and state elections on the same day; However, unregistered voters can still vote in the presidential election specific, designated polling stations within the state.

The Rhode Island Board of Elections will begin releasing the results of the Nov. 5 election shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday. But final results, including those from military and overseas voters, will not be known for several days. The election board expects to certify the results on November 12th.

Updated with early voter turnout data Monday afternoon.

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