Rhode Island voters decide federal, state and Providence mayoral races Tuesday

Vote counting is decentralized across 39 jurisdictions, with no automatic recounts

Rhode Island voters will elect leaders for federal, state and other offices on Tuesday, with polls closing at 8 p.m. Eastern time. The Associated Press laid out the key facts about the election and the data points its Decision Team will monitor as votes are tallied in a guide by Camille Baker — from the races on the ballot to the pace at which results have arrived in past cycles.

The AP said it will provide vote results and declare winners in races for U.S. Senate, governor, U.S. House, mayor of Providence, lieutenant governor, attorney general, statewide ballot measures, state Senate, state House and state treasurer.

Recent turnout offers the baseline for the count. About 357,000 votes were cast in the 2022 race for Rhode Island governor, according to the AP, which put early and absentee ballots at about 29% of votes in that contest. The state’s latest advance vote totals are tracked in the AP’s advance vote tracker.

Counting is decentralized. Rhode Island runs its elections at the town and city level, and all 39 jurisdictions are expected to release a mix of results from all vote types over the course of the night, the AP said. Most jurisdictions are expected to release a mix of early in-person and in-person Election Day votes in the first vote update, before releasing any mail voting results.

Recent cycles suggest a fast start. In the 2024 general election, the first results were reported starting at 8:09 p.m. Eastern — nine minutes after polls closed — and the state reached 50% of votes reporting at 8:34 p.m. and 90% at 12:03 a.m., according to the AP.

The AP does not make projections, the guide said. It will declare a winner only when it has determined that “there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap.” If a race has not been called, the AP said it will continue to cover newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory, while making clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explaining why.

Recounts work differently. Rhode Island has no automatic recounts, according to the AP, but recounts may be requested depending on the vote margin, with thresholds that scale to the size of the contest.

For contests with more than 100,000 votes cast, a recount may be requested if the vote margin is less than 0.5 percentage points or fewer than 1,500 votes, whichever is less. In races with between 20,001 and 100,000 votes cast, the margin must be less than 1 percentage point or fewer than 500 votes. In contests with 20,000 votes or fewer, a recount may be requested when the margin is less than 2 percentage points or fewer than 200 votes.

The AP said it may still declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

The Decision Team said it will monitor key data points as the votes are tallied, and the AP’s continuing coverage of the 2026 election is collected at its elections hub.