Could RI have earlier primary elections? Why the secretary of state is renewing his fight.

PROVIDENCE – If Secretary of State Gregg Amore and the state Board of Elections get their wish, Rhode Island will have earlier primary elections.

The latest draft of the legislation Amore unveiled for the BOE would allow candidates to file their official declaration papers nearly a month earlier than current law allows and, anecdotally, while the General Assembly is usually still in session, which has been one of several sticking points in the past.

How would the legislation change RI's primary elections?

• The candidate filing period would move from late June to the third "consecutive Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday" in May for most elections.

• Rhode Island's primary day would move from early September to the last Tuesday in August.

New legislation would also create a system for suspected forgeries

The Amore-backed legislation – not yet introduced – would also set in motion an automatic series of actions if one or more cities and towns detect suspected forgeries on candidate nominating papers, as happened during Lt .Gov. Sabina Matos' campaign for Rhode Island's open 1st Congressional District seat last year.

The scandal doomed Matos' campaign, bumping her from presumed front-runner to fourth place when the votes were tallied, and the case ended up in Attorney General Peter Neronha's lap after a lot of wavering by the Board of Elections.

Why change the law?

Explaining his reasons for renewing his push for an earlier primary date again this year, as his predecessor did in prior years, Amore told the state Board of Elections what they already know: federal law requires the state to get absentee ballots overseas 45 days before an election. The later the primary, the harder that is.

"Because of the nature of our calendar, it basically gives us a week to deal with all challenges to make sure that we can provide a ballot that is accurate and get it to our overseas Rhode Islanders, many of whom are serving in the military," he said.

"Any deviation of that calendar – a challenge, litigation, multiple recounts – would put us in violation," he said.

The short turnaround time was one of the issues the Board of Elections cited as a reason it could not investigate the falsified signatures on Matos' nominating papers before certifying her candidacy.

"That is real," said Amore of the current time limits.

The second major thrust of the bill would "create a process where, if we have a situation like we did in the Congressional District 1 special election," local election officials would immediately communicate to the Board of Elections any perceived patterns of forgery or fraud and notify the other cities and towns."

"We don't want a process where people are concerned about a single signature that may not match," he said. "That's part of the normal process. ... We're concerned about a pattern of forgery or a pattern of fraud," he said.

The Board of Elections's vote to endorse Amore's "signature legislation" came during a meeting when commissioner Jennie Johnson was elected the new chairwoman, to replace Diane Mederos, who did not seek the spot again.

The board also voted to renew its contract with Election System & Software Inc. for election support from Jan. 1, 2024, with an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2027.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI primary would be earlier if state officials get their way