The Jamestown Board of Canvassers voted at its July 6 meeting to certify how candidates' names will appear on the September primary ballot and to accept a batch of nomination papers, while putting off until its next meeting a decision on the order those names will appear in.
All five members of the board — Jennifer Thran, Hugh Murphy, Ken Newman, Daphne Meredith and Laura Goldstein — were present, according to the roll call taken at the start of the meeting. The board first approved the minutes of its June meeting by voice vote, after a member noted a minor typographical correction that did not change the substance of the record.
Ballot preparations for the September 9 primary
The board is preparing for the statewide primary set for Wednesday, September 9, 2026, which will include a local primary for Jamestown Town Council with six Democratic candidates on the ballot, according to the board's clerk. Nomination papers must be certified before candidates' names are finalized, and on Monday the board voted by voice vote to confirm the names as candidates chose to have them printed, based on declaration forms submitted to the town.
Local sponsorWorld-class website design at a small business priceCompany 50The board also voted, by voice vote, to certify a set of nomination papers already reviewed for valid signatures by the clerk and a colleague. Board members spent time signing off on those papers themselves, checking for issues such as rejected or unclear signatures, blank lines, or addresses outside the correct voting district. One member raised a question, on behalf of voters who had called in, about how residents can check the signature on file with their voter registration; the clerk said residents can view it in person at the town office but not online, and can submit an updated signature if they believe theirs has changed.
A vote on how candidates' names will be ordered on the primary ballot — determined by a random draw once all nomination papers are in — was postponed by voice vote until the board's next meeting, on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Poll worker training and new state rules
The board announced poll worker training dates tied to the primary: supervisor training is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, at 5 p.m. in Jamestown's Council Chambers, while clerk and moderator training is tentatively set for Wednesday, August 5, at CCRI in Newport, with moderators meeting at 5 p.m. and clerks at 6:30 p.m.
The clerk also told the board that new state draft regulations would make early voting procedures more similar to Election Day voting. Those regulations have already gone through Jamestown's town clerk's elections committee and the Secretary of State's office and the Board of Elections, and are now open for public comment, the clerk said.
Separately, the board discussed a change to state law that resets board of canvassers member terms to expire only in odd years — 2027, 2029 and 2031 — and requires municipalities to bring current board terms into compliance by January 1. The clerk said the change affects two current Jamestown board members whose terms would need to be shifted, and that a decision on how to adjust those terms would be worked out and reported back to the board.
Other business
The board noted that Daphne Meredith, Laura Goldstein and a colleague recently completed a statewide elections training and certification program, one of roughly 65 graduates in that cohort; the program is scheduled to restart in January 2027 for anyone needing to make up missed sessions. Members also discussed a new scheduling and recordkeeping tool for poll workers, developed by Newport's elections office, that Jamestown's clerk said the town plans to adopt to help track poll worker assignments and training notifications.
The board's next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, 2026, when members expect to take up the random draw for ballot order once all nomination papers have been received.