RI Special Election: Polls close. Results begin to arrive

In today's Sept. 5 special election primary, voters who live in the 1st Congressional District will cast their ballot for Rhode Island's new Representative to the U.S. House. Follow our coverage for all the breaking news during Rhode Island's primary election

Key Issues: Where do Democrats in the CD1 Special Election stand on key issues? A complete guide

Voter Guide for RI's Special Election: 2023 Congressional District 1

Gabe Amo declared winner in RI's Democratic primary election

Former White House aide Gabe Amo was on track to win the crowded Democratic primary in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District as of press time on Tuesday night.

With 88% of polling places reporting as of 8:18 p.m., Amo had 33.3% of the vote.

First batch of election results

For up-to-date results: Rhode Island special election primary results are in. Here's who is leading CD1

Former White House aide Gabe Amo was on track to win the crowded Democratic primary in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District as of press time on Tuesday night.

WPRI and WJAR called the race for Amo at 8:36 p.m.

With 88% of polling places reporting as of 8:18 p.m., Amo had 33.3% of the vote. In second place was former State Rep. Aaron Regunberg with 25.3%, followed by State Sen. Sandra Cano at 14.3%.

Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos had 7.7% of the vote. Behind her, State Rep. Stephen Casey had 6.5% of the vote, and former Naval War College professor Walter Berbrick had 3.8% of the vote.

Providence City Councilman John Goncalves had 2.8% of the vote, and State Sen. Ana Quezada was at 1.8%. Former Republican Allen Waters had 1.4% of the vote.

Don Carlson, who dropped out of the race just nine days before Election Day, had 1.2% of the vote. IT professional Stephanie Beauté was at 1%. In last place, former State Rep. Spencer Dickinson had 0.9% of the vote.

In the less-crowded Republican primary, political newcomer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gerry Leonard had 75.4% of the vote. Former Middletown Town Councilwoman Terri Flynn had 24.6% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race for Leonard at 8:19 p.m.

Democrats have held the 1st District seat since Republican Ronald Machtley stepped down in 1995.

The results reflect votes cast during the early voting period, in addition to those cast on Election Day. They do not include mail ballots. The Board of Elections anticipated counting most mail ballots by Tuesday, but said that those placed in drop boxes would not be tabulated until Wednesday.

Polls close in Rhode Island's Special Election

Polls have now closed in Rhode Island and voting precincts will begin to transmit their data to the Board of Elections. There the results will be tabulated and released.

The results for early and day-of voting will begin to be tabulated and released in batches.

How close does the race need to be to trigger a recount

There is no law in Rhode Island that triggers an automatic recount. Candidates have until 4 p.m. Wednesday to request a recount, which involves a manual refeeding of the ballots. The threshold for requesting a recount depends on the number of votes cast.   For 20,000 or fewer votes: The candidate must be trailing by 2% or 200 votes, whichever is lower  For 20,001 to 100,000 votes: The candidate must be trailing by 1% or 500 votes, whichever is lower  For more than 100,000 votes: The candidate must be trailing by .5% or 1,500 votes, whichever is lower

When will we know the results? 

Every race is different, so it is impossible to know until polls close how long it will take to determine a winner. But here is a rough timeline of when each type of vote will be counted.

Early voting and day-of voting: Polls close at 8 pm Tuesday night, after which results for early and day-of voting will begin to be tabulated and released in batches

Mail ballots: Later Tuesday night, mail ballot results will be released all at once

Drop box ballots: Results from ballots dropped off in drop boxes will be tabulated and released Wednesday

Overseas and provisional ballots: Provisional and overseas ballots, including military ballots, will be tallied Friday and added to the total

RI Election: How are voters making the decision in a crowded Democratic field?

This campaign, like most, became contentious by the end, but among the steady stream of voters at Saint Teresa Church in Pawtucket, most said they were happy with all of the top-tier Democrats.

Figuring out who in the crowded field could win and who would likely make the biggest splash in Washington were often the decisive factors at the ballot box.

"This is the junior representative in the smallest state in the country. I would like to have someone who, if they are not going to be in leadership in the next decade, at least are going to be loud advancing the things I want done," said Rob McCracken coming out of the polls. "There are ultimately not a lot of differences in policy platforms among the main candidates so I would like to go with who will be loudest in the caucus, which is Aaron Regunberg."

Madeline and Chris Bray said they liked Sabina Matos from her campaign last year and stuck with her through the congressional race. "Healthcare, reproductive rights, education," Chris said on which issues were most important to him.

One voter who declined to give her name said one of the challenges in deciding who to pick was figuring out if they had a good chance to win or if that vote might be better used tactically on someone with a better shot.

When is the general election?

The general election is Nov. 8.

Where can I hear from the candidates in their own words:

The Providence Journal, The Public's radio, Rhode Island College and RI PBS partnered on a series of candidate forums.

During the forum, competing Democrats agreed more than they disagreed on defense spending, "common sense" gun controls, student debt relief, ranked-choice voting and a whole lot more.

They did not agree on everything. And there was at least one gasp-worthy moment.

During back-to-back interviews, the state's two GOP candidates did not stray from national party lines.

One exception?

When asked whether he would support a national abortion ban, Leonard, the Marine veteran who is the state GOP's endorsed candidate in the two-person Republican primary contest, said it's a states' issue and should remain so.

Flynn, a former Middletown councilwoman, said she could not answer questions about what she would have done had she been in Congress at historic moments – such as the Trump impeachment vote – without more information.

Candidates do everything they can to turn undecided voters

Gabe Amo was running late to the next to last stop on the election-day zig-zag he set for himself between Providence- East Providence -Barrington- and Pawtucket on the off-chance he'd meet an undecided voter.

He did.

"I got locked in a conversation with somebody who was deciding... She's like, I've been thinking about this all day and I'm so glad you're here. And we were engaged in the conversation for 10 minutes and if that's what it's going to take, we're going to do that everywhere."

Arriving a bit later than planned at the Barrington Middle School, he had a big "Hi. I'm Gabe. Good to see you.'' greeting for everyone in the slow, but steady stream of late-afternoon voters, including Liz Jacobs who announced - "I just voted for you" - and asked if he'd pose for a selfie.

Amo's own recently released internal poll had him running second (at 19%) behind former Rep. Aaron Regunberg (at 28%), in the crowded field.

Asked if he had done any more recent polling, Amo said: "I have not. No."

"The only poll that matters today is the one that's happening in buildings like these that will decide this outcome. But I have not done any new poll."

Turnout steady at Newport polling places

In Newport, where nine precincts have been consolidated into three polling locations, poll workers had voters filing in every few minutes or so. Park Holm Senior Center Poll Warden David Drooker said this is the busiest polling location he’s worked so far because of the consolidated precincts. At Newport Library, Poll Warden Meredith LeBlanc shared a similar sentiment.

“It’s been quite good for a primary,” LeBlanc said.

Donovan Manor on Chapel Street had four precincts to serve, the most in Newport. Poll Warden Gene Thompson-Grove, who worked at Donovan Manor during the 2022 election, said they’ve seen nearly as many people come in to cast their ballots by 3:30 p.m. as they did by the end of the day during the 2022 general election, at about 334.

“It’s steady,” Thompson-Grove said. “It’s actually been kind of nice.”

Outside the polling place, Vanessa Soares raised a campaign sign for CD1 candidate Sandra Cano. She said she believes Cano is someone who will inspire change and keep her promises. Soares has been urging her neighbors at the Park Holm Housing Complex and around Donovan Manor to show up to the polls in general, as well.

“I’m here to empower us all to vote,” Soares said. “If we all start to vote, they’ll start to listen.

In Jamestown, where the signature scandal began, voters say it didn't change their minds

The scandal the rocked Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, whose campaign submitted falsified signatures on her nominating papers, was the talk of Jamestown, but didn't keep people from voting for her, according to several voters interviewed Tuesday at the polls in the island community that first questioned the Matos signatures.

Annie Anderson, who was voting at the Lawn School, said that in having conversations about whether the scandal "was a meaningful reason to rule her out," she came to the conclusion that it wasn't.

But, for Anderson, it was more of an academic exercise to begin with. "I knew who I was going to vote for already," she said.

But the scandal mattered, she said. "We should know more about what happened and why that happened."

Anderson found that state Sen. Sandra Cano was aligned with her thinking on the issues important to her: including education, health care, climate change and combatting racism.

"I met her early on at a meet-and-greet, and felt she was really genuine, not a typical candidate in any way."

Linda Supron said the scandal "didn't change my mind."

She said it was difficult narrowing down the field. "There's a decent group of candidates, and there not a lot of difference between them."

And the scandal didn't help much with that decision, she said. "I don't think it changed a lot of minds in town."

How many people have voted in RI so far today?

As of 3 p.m. on primary day, a total 28,412 votes had been cast in Rhode Island's off-year Congressional election.

The count so far: 5,306 mail ballots, 7,967 early in-person votes and 15,139 election day votes so far.

Putting that in perspective: The ballot count so far is less than half the number that decided the crowded Democratic race for R.I.'s 2nd Congressional District seat last year.

Then-state Treasurer Seth Magaziner won that six-person 2022 Democratic primary race with 54% of the 56,102 votes cast. (Another 12,113 votes went to Allan Fung, the lone candidate on the GOP primary ballot.)

At this point on primary day 2023, about half as many votes have been cast for twice as many Democratic candidates - and the two Republicans - vying to replace former U.S. Rep. David Cicilline in R.I,'s 1st Congressional District seat. Cicilline quit mid-term to take a $650,000 job in the philanthropy sector.

There are 12 names on the Democratic ballots, though one of those candidates - Donald Carlson - dropped out of the running.

Voting on Aquidneck Island

In the late morning and early afternoon, polling places throughout the northern half of Aquidneck Island all had a similar light stream of voters steadily flowing in and out of their doors. St. Barnabas Church in Portsmouth had 164 voters turn out before 12:30 p.m.

We've had more than expected,” Moderator Richard Cope said.

Outside the church, State Senator Linda Ujifusa, State Representative Michelle McGaw, and Town Councilor Len Katzman held signs in support of CD1 candidate Aaron Regunberg, saying they believe he will actively support causes they care about. All three are members of the Portsmouth Democrats, which they said is pretty active, often having members stand at polling locations to support a candidate.

“He’s not going to just push a button,” McGaw said. “He’s going to fight.”

A friendly rivalry broke out between St. Barnabas Church and Common Fence Point, the other most-populated polling location in Portsmouth, to see which location had the most people turning out to vote and whether they could get more of their voters to use the new ExpressVote machines. By 1:00 p.m., Common Fence Point had 175 voters cast their ballots, 25% of which used the ExpressVote Machine, Assistant Moderator Michael Costello said..

Both Cope and  Costello said the morning had been a little slow, but they expect turnout to increase in the evening as people get off of work.

RI Weather: Will the heat impact voter turnout?

Voters don't have to worry about rain, but they're dealing with plenty of heat and humidity in today's special election in the 1^st Congressional District.

The temperature for the Providence area has reached 86 degrees with 61%  humidity under mostly sunny skies Tuesday afternoon and is likely to reach 88 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

The heat has arrived after a cooler-than-usual meteorological summer, which ran from June through August. The temperature in the Providence area never reached 90 degrees, although that could happen this week since the National Weather Service is forecasting a high of 88 on Wednesday and 93 on Thursday.

"Hot and humid weather is expected through Thursday, and perhaps even into Friday," the weather service says in its forecast discussion.

Barrington voters talk representation, signature scandal

The large field in the Democratic primary was a draw for some voters at Barrington Middle School late Tuesday morning.

“It’s highly contested, so I want to make sure my voice is heard,” said Dave Innis, after casting his vote. “There’s a lot of good candidates.”

Innis said he wanted to cast his ballot for a candidate of color. “It’s time for the country to have fairer representation.”

The scandal that enveloped Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, whose campaign submitted forged signatures on nominating papers, bothered Innis. “I was troubled by the sloppiness of the process," he said.

Eileen Caito, who also voted at the middle school, said she, too, was bothered by the signature scandal, but added that it didn’t change her vote, though she declined to say who got her vote.

Voting heats up in Providence's East Side

A quiet but steady stream of voters flowed into Providence's Martin Luther King Elementary School on the East Side to cast their ballot in Rhode Island's special election primary.

Supporters for a variety of candidates stood outside the gymnasium next to campaign signs thanking voters for participating in the process and encouraging everyone to stay cool in the wake of the day's extreme heat.

By noon, 275 ballots had been cast at the polling place and poll workers were encouraged by the turnout.

Primary election day starts with low turnout in Providence

At Kilmartin Plaza in Providence's West End, voters were very slow to trickle in. By 9:15 a.m., 16 people had cast ballots. An hour later, that number was only up to 24 votes.

Outside the Killmartin Plaza polling place, a man wearing Sabina Matos stickers and holding a Sabina Matos sign first tried to pull out an Ana Quezada sign, before being yelled at by people outside and stopping. He then attempted to uproot an Aaron Regunberg sign, before being yelled at again.

Alberto Escano said said he voted for Quezada because he perceived her to be less of a "political insider," and more of a neighborhood representative, than the other candidates.

Overall, the special election seemed to be "silent," said Escano.

"Not many people are entangled in this process," he said.

After voting shortly after 9 a.m., Escano said he planned to drive his neighbors to the polling police as well as working as a Lyft driver.

James Marcil voted early for Regunberg but returned to the polling place to check if his children were registered and eligible to vote in the election.

Marcil said Regunberg supported his priorities, including global warming, support for unions, as well as the work he has done in the state.

"I want people to stand out, to stick their necks out," Marcil said.

What about Don Carlson? Why is he on the ballot if he's already dropped out of the race? 

Calling politics a sometimes "nasty business," especially for gay people, congressional candidate Donald Carlson sought to set the record straight on the "rumors circulating about me," including a WPRI report that he sent a text message to a student that suggested "a relationship modeled on a website where people can pay to go on dates.”

Days later, the embattled Donald Carlson suspended his campaign for Rhode Island's open congressional seat and endorsed state Sen. Sandra Cano.

However, by that point in the race there was no legal mechanism to remove Carlson from the primary ballot, but the state Board of Elections has asked all local elections officials to post notes at polling places letting people know Carlson has "withdrawn his candidacy."

Key Issues: Where do Republicans in the CD1 special election stand on abortion, guns, Trump and more?

U.S. Department of Justice set to monitor RI's special election

The U.S. Department of Justice will monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in four jurisdictions during Tuesday's special primary election in Rhode Island's First Congressional District.

Monitors from the Justice Department's civil rights division will visit polls in Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket.

The division enforces federal voting rights laws and has regularly monitored elections since the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, the Justice Department said in a press release.

Possible violations of federal voting rights laws can be reported to the civil rights division via telephone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form on the department’s website: https://civilrights.justice.gov or by filling out a complaint form on the department's website at https://civilrights.justice.gov.

Voting in RI's election kicks off

At Newport’s public library polling location, 61 ballots had been cast just prior to 9:15 a.m.

Poll workers said at the time they just had a short bust of voters and the first line of the day. Outside a lone sign holder campaigned for Aaron Regunberg.

Why is RI having a special election?

Rhode Island House Rep. David Cicilline announced in February that he'd be resigning from Congress. His last day was June 1.

The unexpected move triggered a special election in Rhode Island’s First Congressional District, which covers the eastern portion of the state.

More: Cicilline resigning from Congress, will lead Rhode Island Foundation. What we know.

Where do I vote in today's RI election? 

Voters can look up their designated polling station — and, view sample ballots — by logging into the Voter Information Center: vote.sos.ri.gov

Who can vote in today's CD1 primary election?

If you live in any of the following communities, you're in the district:

• East Providence

• Pawtucket

• Central Falls

• North Providence

• Cumberland

• Lincoln

• Smithfield

• North Smithfield

• Woonsocket

• Bristol

• Barrington

• Warren

• Portsmouth

• Newport

• Middletown

• Jamestown

• Little Compton

• Tiverton

• Parts of Providence

Where can I learn about the RI's election before I vote?

All the information you need to cast an informed ballot can be found in our 'Voter Guide for RI's Special Election: 2023 Congressional District 1.'

Where do the candidates stand on all major issues?

Need help deciding who to vote for in Rhode Island's Special Election Primary in September? Use this guide to help distinguish between the Democratic candidates and see where they stand on key issues.

A separate questionnaire was distributed to the two Republican candidates who will appear on the Republican primary ballot: Terri Flynn and Gerry Leonard Jr.

Leonard, who has been endorsed by the Rhode Island GOP, did not complete the survey. (His campaign confirmed that they had received the questionnaire and were aware of the deadline.)

Will I need an ID to vote in Rhode Island?

Yes. Voters need to present an ID, which can be a driver's license, passport, Rhode Island Voter ID Card or another form of identification listed here: vote.sos.ri.gov/Content/Pdfs/voter_id_information.pdf

When are polls open on Election Day?

Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in every city and town except New Shoreham, where poll hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

How can I stay informed for the November election?

• First, be sure to sign up for our morning newsletter. We're following this race closely so you'll get the most recent news directly to your inbox, every day.

• With every twist and turn of the campaign, we update our story: The latest from the 1st Congressional District election. That includes endorsements, scandals, campaign advertising and financial disclosures of campaigns.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Primary Election: Live coverage, results and more for the CD1 race