More than 25% of Rhode Island’s registered voters already cast ballots in the Nov. 5 election as of midday Monday, according to the Rhode Island Department of State turnout tracker.
Early voting continues through 4 p.m. Monday, with designated locations in every city and town.
The 205,220 Rhode Islanders who cast ballots by mail or early, in-person as of noon represent more than 40% of total turnout in the 2020 presidential election. The 2020 election saw 64% participation among Rhode Island voters, with nearly two-thirds voting by mail or through early “emergency” in-person voting authorized because of the pandemic. In 2016, total turnout was just under 60%.
This year marks the first presidential election cycle featuring expanded mail voting and regular, in-person early voting hours in Rhode Island — thanks to a law passed in June 2022 — making it difficult to compare voting behavior this year with past election cycles, said John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island.
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“We’re just settling into new patterns of voting as these choices expand,” Marion said in an interview Monday. “It’s going to take a while for patterns to emerge.”
Marion was surprised, though, that early, in-person voting appeared more popular among Rhode Island voters than mail ballots, contrary to the trends in other states that offer both mail and in-person, early voting.
More than 157,000 Rhode Islanders had voted early, in-person as of noon, compared with nearly 48,000 who submitted ballots by mail. (Screenshot)
A line at Warwick City Hall Friday
Enthusiasm for pre-Election Day voting was strongest in Warwick, where nearly 10,800 voters cast ballots at City Hall by midday Monday. Mayor Frank Picozzi pointed to Warwick’s high turnout in past presidential election cycles as explanation for its strong numbers ahead of Tuesday.
Unlike other state or local candidates, though, Picozzi has not put early voting at the forefront of his own reelection campaign.
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“As long as people vote, I don’t care how they do it,” Picozzi said in an interview Monday morning.
Picozzi, an independent vying for his second term, cast his ballot on the first day of early voting on Oct. 16. At the time, City Hall was still quiet, which was not the case on Friday, when voters waited upwards of an hour during peak times to cast ballots, Picozzi said.
Social media reports showed long lines winding around Warwick City Hall again on Monday.
Neighboring Cranston, however, has not seen lines 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 municipalities that extended early voting hours into the weekend — alongside Providence, East Providence, and North Kingstown. On Saturday, more than 15,000 voters came to the Pastore Youth Center on Gansett Avenue in Cranston during designated early voting hours, Lima said.
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“Aside from parking being a little tight, it’s not been a problem,” said Lima.
The Cranston Board of Canvassers shifted its early voting location from City Hall to the youth center in order to accommodate the larger crowds expected.
Lima chalked up the strong turnout to the headline presidential race along with a host of state and local races of interest. Alongside a contentious mayoral contest between Republican Mayor Ken Hopkins and his Democratic challenger, City Councilor Robert Ferri, all nine city council seats feature contested matchups. A sign directs early voters outside Providence City Hall. The city leads the state in the number of mail ballots submitted — more than 5,600 as of midday Monday. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Mail ballots most popular in Providence
Providence boasted the third-highest number of ballots cast or mailed in, but the highest number of mail ballots, with more than 5,600 mail ballots as of midday Monday. That reflects a “local culture,” in the capital city, where candidates make mail ballot voting a central part of their strategy, Marion said.
“Campaigns adjust their mobilization tactics based on what options exist,” Marion said. “In the same way that campaigns in Providence emphasize mail ballots, it may very well be that campaigns in Warwick are emphasizing early voting.”
The lack of contested state and local races across Providence might also work to the city’s advantage in racking up votes ahead of Election Day; research suggests voters who are undecided are more likely to wait until the day of to participate.
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All three cities with the highest numbers of early voting — Warwick, Cranston, and Providence — backed Biden in 2020. Multiple polls, including a University of New Hampshire poll released Sunday, show Rhode Island voters backing Harris by double-digit percentage points this year, though certain cities and towns in the western part of the state will be close calls between Harris and Trump.
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in all cities and towns on Election Day, except for Block Island, where polls open at 9 a.m. Voters can find their Election Day polling place by looking up their voting record online here.
Mail ballots must be returned to the Board of Elections via a secure drop box, a local board of canvassers’ office or an in-person polling place by 8 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.
Rhode Island does not allow same-day registration for local and state elections; however, unregistered voters can still vote in the presidential race at specific, designated voting locations within the state.
The Rhode Island Board of Elections will begin releasing results of the Nov. 5 election shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday. But final results, including those from military and overseas voters, will not be tallied for several more days. The elections board expects to certify results on Nov. 12.
PROVIDENCE — The application period for Rhode Island’s charter schools opened this week, giving families a shot at roughly 3,000 seats projected to be available at charter schools next year.
A blind lottery for available seats will be held on April 1. Charter schools are in high demand in Rhode Island, with roughly 11,000 families submitting 30,000 applications for 2,500 seats lasts year. (Families can apply for more than one school.)
There are about 13,000 Rhode Island public school students currently enrolled in 25 charters, some of which are larger networks with multiple schools.
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Despite the demand, teachers unions and other public school advocates have sought to block the expansion of charter schools, concerned they are financially hurting the traditional public school system. School funding follows each child from their home school district to the charter school.
In this week’s episode of the Rhode Island Report, Chiara Deltito-Sharrott from the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools talks about the future of charter schools in Rhode Island, and provides a rebuttal to comments made by Maribeth Calabro, the head of Rhode Island’s largest teachers union, in an episode earlier this month.
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.
United Way of Rhode Island accepts initial donations from the Fund’s sponsoring energy companies. (courtesy: United Way of Rhode Island)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — United Way of Rhode Island announced the Rhode Island Good Neighbor Energy Fund has begun for the 2024 through 2025 season.
The fund helps families that need assistance paying their home heating bills but are not eligible for federal or state assistance.
Since it was founded, the Good Neighbor Energy Fund has aided over 48,250 Rhode Island homes.
United RI says any local households in the state that are in need of funding assistance for energy are encouraged to contact a local Community Action Program agency, or to call the 211 helpline for help locating a CAP agency.
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GNEF eligibility is determined on total income not exceeding 300% of the federal poverty level, and provides up to $825 per household each heating season depending on eligibility, fuel type, and need.
United RI said in addition to sponsors, the fund relies on Rhode Islanders who donate through the “Warm Thy Neighbor” campaign.
Donations can be made through the yellow donation envelope enclosed with monthly energy bills, or by scanning the QR code on the envelope.
Additionally, donations can be given through phone by texting “WARM” to 91999.
For more information, visit United Way of Rhode Island’s website here.
Former U.S. Naval officer Darryl Lindie learned early in his career that taking care of his team was key to accomplishing a mission.
Since buying AASign & Awning in Warwick in 2023, Lindie has applied that philosophy to his business, giving his 30-person team paid days off and other benefits. But one offering remained a little too complicated and expensive: retirement savings.
Not for long.
Legislation approved in the 2024 General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee in September sets up a public retirement savings program for private-sector workers whose employers don’t already offer the investment option. Ahead of its formal launch, state officials unveiled details of the RISavers program at an event outside Lindie’s sign shop on Wednesday.
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Modeled after similar programs in other states, including Connecticut, RISavers automatically opens Roth Individual Retirement Accounts for eligible private-sector workers, set up through the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer with help from a third-party account administrator.
“It is absolutely true that anyone can open a Roth IRA or another retirement account whenever they want,” Treasurer James Diossa said. “But it’s also equally true that not everyone has the ability to navigate the financial sector. These things can be daunting and RISavers makes it quick and easy and helps ensure more Rhode Islanders are on a path to stable retirement.”
An estimated 170,000 Rhode Island workers, equal to 40% of the state’s private-sector workforce, don’t get retirement benefits through their jobs, according to information from Diossa’s office. Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon (left) and Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa announced a partnership between Connecticut and Rhode Island, sharing costs for administering their respective state public retirement programs. (Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
The program also alleviates the burden on small businesses, which have no obligation to match contributions. Their only cost is from processing payroll deductions from participating employees.
Businesses with at least five employees are mandated to make the new retirement program available to their workers, with phased-in deadlines based upon business size. Employers with at least 100 workers must enroll within the first year of the program, while those with 50 to 100 workers have to sign up within two years. All 400,000 businesses that meet the minimum employment requirement must join within three years. Businesses with fewer than five employees can also sign up anytime they want.
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“This represents a win for families, for the state economy, and for the overall well-being of our state,” McKee said.
And, it doesn’t come with any extra costs to taxpayers or extra staffing needs, as touted by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi.
A fiscal note included with the legislation in March 2024 estimated a $311,000 startup cost, split between fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, based on comparable startup costs in other states like Delaware and Maine. However, no additional money was used in the nearly $14 billion fiscal 2025 budget to pay for the program, which instead relied on existing funds within the treasurer’s office, according to Rob Craven, Diossa’s legislative affairs director.
Rhode Island will pay a $100,000 fee for Vestwell State Savings, split between this fiscal year and the next, to administer the program. Rhode Island is also partnering with Connecticut, which launched its public retirement savings program for public-sector employees two years ago, to share in administration costs and investment fees from Vestwell.
Which, in turn, drives down the fees for participating workers.
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The program will use Bank of New York Mellon for its accounts, the same financial services company Vestwell uses for its version of a public retirement account.
Since Connecticut launched the MyCTSavings program in April 2022, it has opened retirement accounts for nearly 30,000 state residents, who have invested $33 million, said Comptroller Sean Scanlon, who attended the event in Warwick.
As of June 30, 2024, 20 states had launched, or passed legislation to launch, retirement savings programs for private sector workers, 17 of which (including Rhode Island) automatically enroll eligible workers, according to the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University’ McCourt School of Public Policy.
Diossa plans to launch a pilot program with a small number of participants in the spring of 2025, opening up the program to full capacity “shortly after.”
Lindie is eager to sign up, noting the interest among his workers already. He hopes the perk will attract new workers to the growing, design-to-build sign shop.
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“We are looking for a younger generation of talent, and we need these kinds of benefits,” Lindie said.
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