PROVIDENCE, RI – Legislation from Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis clearing up an issue in state election law that led Rhode Island’s Republican and Democratic parties all the way to the state Supreme Court has become law.
Prompted by the so-called “GOP 5” case that hit the state Supreme Court last year, Mollis’ bill clarifies the process that state political parties must use when nominating candidates for the state Senate and House of Representatives.
“We moved quickly to clear up any ambiguity in the law. State law already requires candidates for the General Assembly to file in the city or town where they are registered to vote. Our legislation makes it clear that party nominations must be filed locally too,” said Mollis.
The General Assembly passed the bill when it met late last month. Earlier this month the bill was transmitted to Governor Carcieri, who let it go into effect without his signature.
State law allows state political parties to fill last-minute holes in their tickets by nominating candidates for the state Senate or House in districts where no one from their party has filed to run.
The state GOP did so in 2008, nominating candidates in five Senate seats for which no Republicans had filed by the June 25 deadline. The party filed the nominations with the Secretary of State’s office. Democrats immediately challenged the filings, maintaining that party nominations should have been filed locally.
The complaint was heard by the state Board of Elections, which sided with the Democrats. The dispute ended when the state Supreme Court refused to overturn the Board of Elections’ decision against the five would-be Republican candidates.
The change in state law also affects a range of municipal offices including mayor and school committees. State political parties have 24 hours after the deadline for candidates to file declarations of candidacy to nominate their own candidates.