Rhode Island mail ballots must reach the Board of Elections or an authorized drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters whose ballots arrived on time but were flagged for a signature or identity problem have until 4 p.m. Nov. 10 to return a required correction. Both deadlines require receipt, not a postmark.
The board's voter guidance directs mail-ballot voters to an authorized drop box or its facility at 2000 Plainfield Pike in Cranston. Voters who still have a ballot should take it to an authorized drop box or the board's facility rather than mail it. The board says voters who requested a mail ballot cannot switch to an in-person emergency ballot at city or town hall and should return the mail ballot instead. Military and overseas voters have an additional week for ballot return, according to the board.
Voters can check status at vote.ri.gov. Processing means verification is underway; accepted means approved for counting; deficient means a signature or identity issue requires action. Disqualified can mean the ballot arrived late or that a certification problem was not corrected by the deadline. A voter receiving a signature notice should still follow its instructions and return the correction by Nov. 10.
The certification regulation directs officials to notify affected voters, who must submit a Deficient Mail Ballot Attestation Form. The board's guidance says the signed notice must also be signed by two witnesses or notarized and received by the deadline, either in the postage-prepaid return envelope, which must arrive by 4 p.m. Nov. 10, or at the Board of Elections drop box at 2000 Plainfield Pike in Cranston.
The correction period addresses a certification problem on a timely ballot. It does not extend the general ballot-receipt deadline.