{"id":2336,"date":"2026-06-09T19:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2336"},"modified":"2026-06-09T19:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:03:16","slug":"r-i-assembly-wont-vote-on-a-state-voting-rights-act-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2336","title":{"rendered":"R.I. Assembly won\u2019t vote on a state Voting Rights Act this year"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PROVIDENCE \u2014 General Assembly leaders say they won\u2019t bring a proposed Rhode Island Voting Rights Act to the floor for a vote this legislative session.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2334\">Olympian, elite track stars sue Puma, claiming \u2018defective\u2019 shoes caused injuries, ended careers<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Advocates argue that Rhode Island needs to pass its own law to protect against voter discrimination and suppression now that an April 29 US Supreme Court ruling has gutted a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The  was introduced by two powerful East Providence Democrats \u2014 Senate President Valarie J. Lawson and new House Majority Leader Katherine S. Kazarian.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>But in a joint statement, Lawson, House Speaker Christopher R. Blazejewski, and Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore said they\u2019re now planning to consider the legislation next year, and won\u2019t bring it to a vote before the end of the 2026 session, which is expected to wrap up Friday night.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Rhode Map<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cFrom the beginning, we have all understood the importance of passing a strong Rhode Island Voting Rights Act,\u201d the joint statement said. \u201cBut we also understand that as the federal administration continues to work to make it more difficult to access the ballot box, we have to do it right. This legislation is broad-ranging and complex, and required feedback and input from many partners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They noted provisions of the proposed Rhode Island Voting Rights Act would not take effect until the 2028 election cycle. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTherefore, we will work over the course of the off-session to put forward as strong a bill as possible for consideration in 2027, and will continue to prioritize the Voting Rights Act in the upcoming session,\u201d the joint statement said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lawson, Blazejewski, and Amore said there wasn\u2019t one single concern that cause them to postpone action. But given the complexity of the bill, they sought input from Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, whose office would handle enforcement and defend the legislation from a likely court challenge. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt is imperative that we enact as strong, enforceable, and defensible a bill as possible,\u201d the joint statement said. \u201cWith those priorities in mind, we recognize there is more work to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But advocates plan to gather at the State House at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to urge legislators to act now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe Rhode Island Voting Rights Act has been killed,\u201d the Womxn Project wrote in a Facebook post. \u201cWhile we are devastated, we are not giving up. <b>&#8230; <\/b>This is not over and that we are not going anywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shahidah Ali, political action committee chair for the Rhode Island Coalition of Black Women, said she was \u201cvery disappointed\u201d that the General Assembly won\u2019t vote on the bill this year. She said the legislation has been around since March if lawmakers had any questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2332\">Four high school journalists named winners of new-look Will McDonough Writing Contest<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTo wait until the last minute felt like another slight for Black people, especially with the Supreme Court decision and what happened immediately with the southern states redistricting and gerrymandering the Black neighborhoods,\u201d Ali said. \u201cThis is an urgent matter. It would give the Black and brown communities a feeling of security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Podcast: US Supreme Court ruling heightens the need for a R.I. Voting Rights Act, advocates say<\/div>\n<p><span>She said the midterm elections are coming up this fall, and she\u2019s concerned the Trump administration will send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to certain polling sites to try to intimidate voters. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ali said the Rhode Island General Assembly has a super majority of Democrats, but some \u201cdon\u2019t act like Democrats \u2014 they act like soft-level Republicans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>John M. Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said the legislation is urgent in part because the state\u2019s fourth-largest city, Pawtucket, remains under a federal consent order for violating the federal Voting Rights Act, and Trump\u2019s Department of Justice has shown no interest in enforcing that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Department of Justice alleged that Pawtucket failed to provide election assistance and materials in Spanish for Spanish-speaking voters with limited English proficiency, in violation of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. A 2024 consent decree requires Pawtucket to provide all election-related information in both English and Spanish, and it extends through 2028.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The proposed legislation would provide a way for people to go to court to combat discrimination in voting \u2014 particularly racial discrimination, Marion said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe would not have expected lawsuits necessarily to emerge between now and November,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it would have sent a message \u2014 particularly to Black voters in Rhode Island that no longer enjoy the protection of the federal Voting Right Act \u2014 that the legislature is willing to step up and protect their rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Advocates have said the proposed Rhode Island Voting Rights Act is similar in spirit to the 2019 Reproductive Privacy Act, which protected abortion rights in anticipation of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Marion said the federal Voting Rights Act has provided a deterrent against discrimination in elections for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cNow, that deterrent is no longer there, so we need the state Voting Rights Act to replace it as a deterrent,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that the legislature doesn\u2019t think it can get it done this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2330\">World Cup referee denied entry to the US was about to make history for Somalia<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House and Senate leaders join Secretary of State Amore in saying \u201cthere is more work to do\u201d on state legislation to protect against voter discrimination and suppression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>R.I. 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