Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea announced Friday that every registered, active voter in Rhode Island will receive an application for a mail-in ballot ahead of Election Day.
“Making it easy for Rhode Islanders to vote safely and securely from home will ensure that voters aren’t forced to choose between their health and their constitutional right to vote,” Gorbea said in an official statement.
Gorbea said she can send mail-in ballot applications to voters without approval from the state legislature. (RELATED: Battleground States May See Unprecedented Amounts Of Absentee Ballot Rejections)
Ballot applications will begin arriving over the next week to ensure voters have enough time to return their applications and receive their mail-in ballots, according to Gorbea. She also said the applications will come with pre-stamped envelopes.
The Rhode Island National Guard has been authorized to assist processing mail-in ballot applications, but members of the National Guard will not handle actual ballots, per the statement.
The deadline for voters to register is Oct. 4, while the deadline to submit a mail-in ballot application is Oct. 13.