---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS - VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS (Allows local boards of canvassers to combine voting districts in special elections for approval/rejection of questions or when officials will be elected or in primary elections only with board of election approval.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS - VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS (Allows local boards of canvassers to combine voting districts in special elections for approval/rejection of questions or when officials will be elected or in primary elections only with board of election approval.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 5864"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5864 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cities & Towns", "Elections"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Edwards", "Hawkins", "Millea", "Phillips", "Shanley"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-03-15"
last_action: "2019-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f5d9c88d-dc27-40c7-9b43-53e4e3536f20"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "63980a1465d79b5ff7e1abe1c153b9428ab91fc7ebe8eb7b27fa040ccbceee1b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5864 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS - VOTING DISTRICTS AND OFFICIALS (Allows local boards of canvassers to combine voting districts in special elections for approval/rejection of questions or when officials will be elected or in primary elections only with board of election approval.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5864 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/HouseText19/H5864A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **72–1** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **23–48** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Edwards — primary (person)
- Hawkins — primary (person)
- Millea — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Shanley — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-03-15** 03/15/2019 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-05** 04/05/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/10/2019)
- **2019-04-10** 04/10/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-06-07** 06/07/2019 Scheduled for consideration
- **2019-06-11** 06/11/2019 Meeting postponed (06/11/2019)
- **2019-06-11** 06/11/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-11** 06/11/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/12/2019)
- **2019-06-12** 06/12/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/19/2019)
- **2019-06-19** 06/19/2019 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/25/2019)
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f5d9c88d-dc27-40c7-9b43-53e4e3536f20`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).