R.I. GOP seeks volunteers for its own ‘election integrity office’

The Rhode Island Republican Party is launching an initiative to recruit volunteers to monitor state and local elections with the lofty goal of ‘bolstering our state’s election integrity.’ (Getty image)

The Rhode Island GOP is taking a page from the national party playbook by starting its own election integrity program.

The soon-to-launch election integrity office, announced in an email on Tuesday, mimics the programs set up by the Republican National Committee and the Trump-Vance campaign in battleground states nationwide. The intent is to offer reassurance to voters and independent oversight into state and local elections, Rhode Island GOP Chairman Joe Powers said in an interview on Wednesday.

“There have been numerous times where I have gotten phone calls from people who have questioned a vote, or what happened with their mail ballots,” Powers said. “I’d rather have people in place to specifically handle this.”

A volunteer election integrity officer will lead a team of other volunteers working on the lofty goal of “bolstering our state’s election integrity,” according to the GOP’s email announcement. Applicants for the volunteer position, open through Sept. 11, must show skills in communication, organization and collaboration.

According to Powers, the program is not a knock on the multi-layered state and local elections system, which features the Rhode Island Department of State, the Rhode Island Board of Elections, and the 39 municipal, bipartisan election panels.

“We want to have the answers for ourselves when people ask us,” Powers said.

But Powers also wasn’t ready to back state and local election administrators in carrying out and protecting the safety and integrity of elections.  

“I can’t say I’ve done a deep enough dive one way or another,” he said.

Under state law, recognized political parties in Rhode Island have more access to and power over the elections process than any other group or average resident.

“Tension between the two major parties is an important component of effective election administration in Rhode Island,” John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island said. “It is literally baked into how election administration works at the local level, and should be there at the state level too.”

Yet, Marion said, the state parties often don’t take advantage of those powers, such as witnessing the review and certification of mail ballots. He could only recall a couple of times over the last decade when parties or candidates sat in on the certification process by the Rhode Island Board of Elections. 

“It’s a funny situation that a party which enjoys this privileged position in elections administration would feel the need to do something like this,” Marion said of the state GOP’s plan. 

Also concerning is the potential partisan influence that might surround the volunteer-led integrity campaign.

“Trust in elections has deteriorated in part because of the former Republican president who has consistently attacked the integrity of elections for the last decade,” Marion said. “It may be a realization on the part of the party that you reap what you sow. When people can’t trust elections, they’re not going to participate in them.”

While its name indicates a focus on election safety, Powers said the program also hinges on a robust get-out-the-vote campaign ahead of the state’s Nov. 5 election. 

“Rhode Island has Republicans, but they don’t always vote,” he said. 

A day after the announcement that the state party was seeking applications, Powers said he had received “plenty” of responses from interested candidates.

Exactly how many?

“More than one and less than 100,” Powers said.

Faith Chybowski, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of State, stressed the security of the existing elections process in an email on Wednesday.

“Speaking generally as we don’t have all of the details of this new ‘office,’ our primary concern is that the organization of a group or effort …will cause voters to become concerned with the security of our elections, or itself be perceived as voter intimidation,” Chybowski said. “Our office will continue to prioritize dispelling misinformation and ensuring all eligible voters can safely cast their ballot.”

The Rhode Island Board of Elections, which oversees Election Day operations and tallies results, among other duties, declined to comment.