---
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 no 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 no 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: "SB 474"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 474 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Board of Elections", "Cities & Towns", "Elections"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Crowley", "Lombardi", "Nesselbush", "Quezada", "Sheehan"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-02-27"
last_action: "2019-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a8430e41-17b5-4308-8dd0-16e08233621c"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "87b5de05c5ec43b8a0a73ad0997d9d06507c26b6ab6c2562a61e21aa7e01a9c9"
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 SB 474 (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 no 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. **474 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/SenateText19/S0474A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage as Amended — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- In Concurrence — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- PASSAGE — **73–0** (pass) · upper
- Approval of Amendment — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Crowley — primary (person)
- Lombardi — primary (person)
- Nesselbush — primary (person)
- Quezada — primary (person)
- Sheehan — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-27** 02/27/2019 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-15** 03/15/2019 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/21/2019)
- **2019-03-21** 03/21/2019 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2019-05-23** 05/23/2019 Scheduled for consideration (05/28/2019)
- **2019-05-28** 05/28/2019 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-29** 05/29/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/11/2019)
- **2019-06-11** 06/11/2019 Senate passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2019-06-12** 06/12/2019 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-14** 06/14/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/18/2019)
- **2019-06-17** 06/17/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-18** 06/18/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-18** 06/18/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/20/2019)
- **2019-06-20** 06/20/2019 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/a8430e41-17b5-4308-8dd0-16e08233621c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).