Restricting Early Voting Campaign Activities (S 569, H 5084)

Currently in Rhode Island, political candidates are not allowed to conduct certain campaign activities like handing out flyers or holding signs within 50 feet of the door of a polling place on Election Day. We opposed legislation that would extend the current "50-feet electioneering" ban for Election Day polling places to include facilities that conduct early voting. A targeted electioneering ban is realistic when it applies to one specific voting day, but it becomes much more problematic when expanded to include the 20 days made available at municipal facilities, most commonly city and town hall, for early voting.