Rhode Island’s statewide primary is Wednesday, September 9. Two things about that sentence are unusual, and both matter if you vote here.
First, the Wednesday. Primaries in Rhode Island normally fall on a Tuesday, but this year that Tuesday landed the day after Labor Day. The General Assembly moved the election back one day rather than ask municipalities to run a polling place on a holiday weekend.
Second, and this is the island-specific part: polls in New Shoreham open at 9 a.m., not 7 a.m. Everywhere else in Rhode Island opens at seven. New Shoreham is the single exception in the state, a nod to the fact that poll workers and equipment have to make a boat. Closing time is the same as everywhere else — 8 p.m. — and if you are in line at eight you get to vote.
The registration deadline for this primary has passed, as has the mail ballot application deadline. If you are already registered here, you are set.
The ballot includes the governor’s race along with other statewide and legislative contests. We are not going to tell you how to vote in a primary; we are going to tell you that the boat schedule is the thing most likely to cost you the ballot. If you are off-island for work on the 9th and planning to come back to vote, check the return sailing before you count on it — the last boat is not a plan, it is a hope.
Where to vote: the town’s election page still shows the November 2024 general election, which listed Town Hall on Old Town Road. Confirm with the Board of Canvassers at 401-466-3201 before you go, and see the Rhode Island Board of Elections for the statewide detail.