September 12 Emergency Board of Elections Meeting Cancelled

CRANSTON, R.I. – The Board of Elections emergency meeting scheduled for September 12th at 10:00am has been cancelled.

Letter from Election Systems & Software (ES&S) Re: Why outdated AutoMARK system cannot be utilized

The Board of Elections has received the following letter from ExpressVote vendor ES&S regarding why the AutoMARK assistive ballot system, used previously by the Board of Elections, cannot be used for the September 13th Rhode Island primary election.

“Based upon advice from legal counsel, tomorrow’s meeting will not be convened on an emergency basis,” said Robert Rapoza, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Board of Elections. “The Board met on September 7th to address the use of the ExpressVote equipment in the September 13 primary and discussed the measures that have been implemented, and will be taken by the Board staff, the Secretary of State’s office and the vendor, ES&S, to ensure that the ballots generated by the ExpressVote equipment accurately reflect the voters’ choices of candidates and that the ballots are correctly tabulated. The request to remove all ExpressVote equipment on the eve of the primary would leave persons with disabilities with no accessible voting method, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Board will convene a meeting in the near future to further discuss the ExpressVote equipment, as well as receive a report regarding its use during the primary. Of course, if other circumstances develop on any matter involving the election process in the State of Rhode Island, the Board is prepared to meet and address any such issue that may arise.”