When someone's name ends up on or off our ballot, the process has to be fair and transparent. Right now, Rhode Island has a real problem: nobody knows for certain whether voters have to hand-write their own name and address when they sign nomination papers, or whether someone else can fill that information in for them. That question didn't get answered when the Board of Elections tossed Ken Block's challenge against Jay Gotra on a technicality. The underlying rule is still unsettled, and November is coming fast.
This matters to every Rhode Islander who has ever signed a petition outside a grocery store or library. If the rules aren't clear, candidates and circulators can't follow them, and voters can't trust that the names on those papers are legitimate. We've already seen one challenge thrown out not because the question was wrong, but because the form wasn't filled out correctly. That's not a resolution — that's a delay. And a delayed answer in an election year is an answer that benefits whoever can afford to wait it out.
I'm asking you to press the Board of Elections for a clear, written, publicly available interpretation of what our nomination paper rules actually require — before the November 2026 election. If legislation is needed to put that clarity into law, please introduce it or co-sponsor it. Rhode Islanders deserve to know the rules of our own democracy before ballots are printed.
Please make sure Rhode Island's ballot signature rules are clear and in writing before the November election.
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