Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

The Rhode Island State Legislature made significant strides this session, broadening access to mail voting and codifying protections to shield election workers from harassment. Yet, the state once again missed a critical opportunity to modernize its infrastructure by failing to upgrade its automatic voter registration to a more secure and efficient model. Consequently, Rhode Island earned a B+ on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Rhode Island Started at the Beginning of 2025

• Automatic Voter Registration: Partial AVR
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: Yes (presidential races only)
• Restoration of Rights: Prison Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: Yes
• Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Rhode Island as of 2024, we considered the state a middle tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2025 activity against other middle tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 20th
• EPI Score (2022): 6th

2025: This Past Year

Legislative Action

The Legislature continued to pass legislation to improve voter access:

• SB 729 / HB 5300 makes it a crime to threaten election officials, and members of their immediate family, because of the election official’s public duty.
• SB 520 / HB 5709 allows any voter to join the permanent mail ballot application list and automatically receive a mail ballot application for every election.
• SB 513 / HB 5517 increases the maximum number of voters per polling location to accommodate mid-census population growth.