Early voting is riding a wave in Rhode Island. Will primary day turnout follow?

Chalk it up to the high-profile and contentious primaries for state general offices and Providence mayor. Or maybe increased awareness around more convenient ballot-casting methods.

Either way, over three times as many voters cast ballots at in-person polling places in the first eight days of early voting, compared to the same time frame in the 2024 primary.

It’s still not an astounding figure. The 10,201 early ballots cast as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday represents less than 1.5% of the 691,603 active, registered voters, according to the Rhode Island Department of State online voter turnout tracker.

Two years ago, in 2024, 3,611 voters cast ballots in-person as of eight days into the early voting period, according to data obtained by Rhode Island Current. The number was slightly higher in 2022, with 4,403 voters making their picks by day eight of early voting in the last state primary that included state general offices.

This data does not include ballots submitted by mail during the early voting period.

The 2022 election cycle came just a few months after state lawmakers enshrined early, in-person voting and non-emergency mail ballots into state law, having first incorporated the options on a temporary basis during the 2020, pandemic-era elections.

But awareness of and trust in these newer, potentially more convenient voting options has been slow. In 2022, more than three-quarters of state primary voters made their picks on primary day. Just over 7 in 10 voters who participated in the 2024 primaries did so on the day of the primary, according to state data. 

Election administrators and good government advocates remain optimistic that these once novel voting options will become accepted and more widely used over time. 

“It’s going to take a number of election cycles for a new equilibrium to form, especially because prior to 2020 we had the highest rate of Election Day voting in the United States,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “Having these options is new to the vast majority of voters.”

Marion also noted that while early, in-person voting numbers are soaring, mail ballots have not seen the same surge in popularity this election cycle — potentially a signal that voters are wary of the integrity of mail ballots due to attacks by the Trump administration. 

A federal judge on Thursday blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail voting in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, but an appeal is expected. 

Because Rhode Island opened up access to mail ballots and early, in-person voting at the same time, Marion said he would have expected the uptake among voters to follow a similar path.

“People might not want to risk voting by mail if they somehow feel the mail ballot might not be counted,” Marion said, noting that Trump’s allegations of mail ballot tampering have been disproven. 

More than 5,000 Rhode Island voters have cast mail ballots as of Thursday, according to the state dashboard. The combined early voter turnout — in person and by mail – of  16,000 people represents 2% of registered voters.

In 2022, 3,800 mail ballots had been received in the first eight days of early primary voting. In 2024, there were 4,528 submitted in the same time frame, according to the Department of State.

Candidates have also helped spread the early voting information, highlighting the dates and options for in-person and mail voting in campaign flyers and ads.

“Candidates are really pushing it, no question,” said Joe Fleming, a political analyst for WPRI-TV 12.

Fleming remains unsure if the early voting spike signals higher overall turnout in the Sept. 9 primaries, or shifts the timing of participation — more voting early, rather than on primary day.

“We’ll know better come Sept. 9 or 10, after everyone has voted, whether this is a true voting increase or if people are just voting early,” Fleming said in an interview Friday.

In 2024, turnout failed to crack 10% in the state’s primaries. Two years earlier, in 2022, 16.9% of voters participated in the September primaries. 

Providence dominated both categories of early voting, with more than 1,200 voters apiece casting ballots during designated hours at City Hall or by mail. East Providence recorded the second-highest number of in-person, early voters — 673 — while Warwick had the second-highest amount of submitted mail ballots at 501. 

New Shoreham has seen the fewest early voters, with 22 between in-person and mail ballots. The town has 1,060 registered voters, the smallest number of any municipality.

Early, in-person voting continues through 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8. Most municipalities offer hours every weekday, with select Saturday hours in Providence and Pawtucket.

Mail ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on primary day — delivered either to a local board of canvassers, the Rhode Island Board of Elections or a designated drop box. 

The deadline to apply for a mail ballot has already passed, but voters can still request an emergency mail ballot from their local boards of canvassers.