Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-14-1 (2026)

Declarations of candidacy

✓ current as of July 2026

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During the last consecutive Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in June in the even years and during the thirty-ninth (39th) and fortieth (40th) days preceding a primary election for a special election for state or local office, or for an election for state or local office regularly scheduled for a time other than the biennial general statewide election, or during the sixty-seventh (67th) and sixty-eighth (68th) days preceding a primary election for a special election for federal office, or for an election for federal office regularly scheduled for a time other than the biennial general statewide election, each voter desiring to be a candidate at the upcoming primary or an independent candidate on final nomination papers shall, on a form that shall be provided by the secretary of state, file a declaration of their candidacy not later than four o’clock (4:00) p.m. of the last day for the filing with the secretary of state for congressional and statewide general offices, or with the local board of the place of the candidate’s voting residence for general assembly, or state committee or senatorial and representative district committee, or with the appropriate local board for local officers. The declaration shall be signed by the candidate as the candidate’s name appears on the voting list. The signature shall be accepted as valid if it can be reasonably identified to be the name and signature of the voter it purports to be. A variation of the voter’s signature by the insertion or omission of identifying titles or by the substitution of initials for the first or middle names or both shall not in itself be grounds for invalidation of the signature. The declaration shall also include the following information:

(1) The candidate’s name as it appears on the voting list, subject to the same provisions as relate to the voter’s signature on the declaration;

(2) The address as it appears on the voting list, provided that an address that is substantially the same as the address on the voting list shall be valid;

(3) The party declaration if seeking to run in a party primary;

(4) The office sought;

(5) The place and date of birth;

(6) The length of residence in the state and in the town or city where the candidate resides;

(7) A certification that the candidate is neither serving a sentence, including probation or parole, for which the candidate was imprisoned upon final conviction of a felony imposed on any date nor serving any sentence, whether incarcerated or suspended, on probation or parole, upon final conviction of a felony committed after November 5, 1986;

(8) A certification that the candidate has not been lawfully adjudicated to be non compos mentis, of unsound mind;

(9) In the case of candidates for party nomination, a certification that the candidate has not been a member of a political party other than the declared party within ninety (90) days of the filing date, except in the case of candidates for party nomination for a special election for federal office, or for an election for federal office regularly scheduled for a time other than the biennial general statewide election, that person shall not have been a member of a political party other than the declared political party within thirty (30) days of the filing of their declaration of candidacy; and

(10) If a person is a candidate for a state or local office, a certification that the person has not within the preceding three (3) years served any sentence, incarcerated or suspended, on probation or parole, for a crime committed after November 5, 1986, upon a plea of nolo contendere or guilty or upon a conviction of a felony or for a misdemeanor for which a sentence of imprisonment for six (6) months or more, whether suspended or to be served was imposed.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases, 1959–1996 · leading case: Gelch v. State Bd. of Elections, 482 A.2d 1204 (R.I. 1984).

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Gelch v. State Bd. of Elections, 482 A.2d 1204 (R.I. 1984). · cites it 2× “Section 17-14-7, as amended by P.L. 1982, ch.”

Malinou v. Bd. of Elections, 271 A.2d 798 (R.I. 1970). · cites it 2× “1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 17-14-1, filed in the Secretary of State's office a declaration of candidacy which signified his intention to be a candidate for the United States Senate at the September 15, 1970 Democratic Party's primary.”

Charlestown Democratic Town Comm. v. Connell, 789 F. Supp. 517 (D.R.I. 1992). · cites it 4× “R.I.Gen.Laws § 17-14-1. If more people file declarations of candidacy than the number of slots on that particular committee, all candidate names are placed on the primary ballot.”

Gomes v. Rhode Island State Bd. of Elections, 393 A.2d 1088 (R.I. 1978). “1956 (1969 Reenactment) §17-14-1, as amended by P.L. 1978, ch. 271, §1, which specifies that declarations of candidacy are to be filed in cases such as this one “[d]uring the first ten (10) days in June.”

Gill v. State of Rhode Island, 933 F. Supp. 151 (D.R.I. 1996). “See § 17-14-1 et. seq. 7 . Such a situation is exacerbated by the Rhode Island provision which allows a voter to sign "any number of nomination papers for any office the voter may lawfully vote for at the general election.”

Cromer v. South Carolina, 917 F.2d 819 (4th Cir. 1990). “1990); R.I.Gen.Laws §§ 17-14-1, 17-14-12 (1988 & Supp.”

Gallant v. LaFrance, 222 A.2d 567 (R.I. 1966). “1956, §17-14-1, as amended. 2 The pleadings further establish that a meeting of the Democratic state committee had been called for July 1, 1966, at which time the order of business would include the endorsement of candidates seeking nominations in the Democratic primary.”

Holmes v. Begin, 684 A.2d 1141 (R.I. 1996). “We also hold that the qualification for office must be tested as of the date of the nomination made by the State chairperson and not as of the date a candidate would have had to file a declaration of candidacy for the primary election under § 17-14-1. The language of G.L.1956 §…”

Bunting v. Bd. of Canvassers & Reg., 153 A.2d 560 (R.I. 1959). “It appears from the petition and from certain exhibits which are in evidence that petitioners and nine other persons filed declarations of candidacy, under general laws 1956, §17-14-1, for election to the fourth ward Democratic committee in Cranston at the primary election to be…”

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