---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- VOTER REGISTRATION (Removes the requirement that party primary voters automatically change their party affiliation to that party and reduces from 90 to 30 days the time before an election that a non-candidate can change their affiliation.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- VOTER REGISTRATION (Removes the requirement that party primary voters automatically change their party affiliation to that party and reduces from 90 to 30 days the time before an election that a non-candidate can change their affiliation.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 589"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 589 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Campaign Issues", "Elections"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["McKenney"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-03-14"
last_action: "2019-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f5b1cc3b-d415-4135-b44c-ffda0a46712e"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "96505d8bacc6994cd8a7cbb138a1063bd07bbb2f8cdc7d71010038338050bebb"
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 589 (2019) — AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- VOTER REGISTRATION (Removes the requirement that party primary voters automatically change their party affiliation to that party and reduces from 90 to 30 days the time before an election that a non-candidate can change their affiliation.)

## Version chain

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

1. **589 SUB A as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText19/SenateText19/S0589Aaa.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **60–2** (pass) · upper
- AS AMENDED — **57–6** (pass) · upper
- Passage — **31–6** (pass) · upper
- In Concurrence — **26–6** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- McKenney — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-03-14** 03/14/2019 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
- **2019-06-24** 06/24/2019 Scheduled for consideration (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-25** 06/25/2019 Proposed Substitute
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/26/2019)
- **2019-06-26** 06/26/2019 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-27** 06/27/2019 Placed on House Calendar (06/28/2019)
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 House passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/28/2019)
- **2019-06-28** 06/28/2019 Senate passed Sub A as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2019-07-02** 07/02/2019 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-07-08** 07/08/2019 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/f5b1cc3b-d415-4135-b44c-ffda0a46712e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).