News Clips

State leaders are worried Rhode Island will be undercounted in the 2020 Census. A group of volunteers, including elected officials, policy makers, activists, and members of the private sector are trying to change that.

The last time a U.S. census form arrived in the mail, Marcela Betancur helped her mother fill it out.

Rhode Island lawmakers this year will likely be confronted with two competing proposals to make it easier to vote before Election Day, as state elections officials warn of possible calamity if laws are not changed before 2020.

John Marion says Rhode Island represents the “ghost of Christmas future.” Last spring, the Ocean State was home to the first and only trial run for the 2020 census, which was conducted in 637,000-strong, immigrant-heavy Providence County.

Rhode Island is on pace to become the second state to use risk-limiting election audits, beginning with the presidential primary in 2020, having conducted three trial runs earlier this month. These audits—essentially a check to ensure votes are being counted correctly—limit the risk a wrong election result is certified, and Colorado performed the first in November 2017.

When a group of Rhode Island’s top officials gathered in a chilly warehouse in Providence in mid-January to fight foreign interference in U.S. elections, the mood was festive.