Legislation

Throughout the redistricting process – by which legislative districts are redrawn in Rhode Island every ten years – our organization has been vigilantly defending the need to simultaneously address the issue of prison gerrymandering.

We supported a bill which will allow for classified employees to seek nomination or become a candidate for elective state office and require their resignation from employment only if they win the election.

In addition to commenting on the importance of properly apportioned districts as a component of voting rights and racial justice, we urged several amendments to bills which would create a commissions charged with the task redrawing district lines.

We supported a repeal of the RI Voter ID law, noting that it presents an unnecessary barrier to eligible voters who may not have ready access to a photo ID.

This comprehensive legislation, supported by the ACLU and more than two dozen other advocacy groups, was introduced to build upon the successfully implemented changes of the 2020 election cycle.

We opposed a bill which would have eliminated the counting of write-in votes for persons who had not filed in advance a “declaration of intent.”

The ACLU once again supported legislation to rectify a disparity in voter representation and require all prisoners to be counted, for voting purposes only, at their last known address.

H 7901A attempted to address the need for emergency electoral measures during COVID-19 by halving the ballot signature requirement which is required to run for federal office, but did not adequately confront the core concerns that this bill was created into response to.