'This is not a drill': RI GOP 'urgent' email suggests party may miss deadline for Republican primary

In Rhode Island, 2024 presidential candidates must report "at least 1,000 signatures of registered voters to their local boards of canvassers" by January 11 in order to be on the state's primary ballot, but according to News From The States, "the urgent tone of the Rhode Island Republican Party’s Tuesday, January 9 email suggests the party is unprepared to meet the deadline.

"This is not a drill," the state's GOP Chairman Joe Powers "wrote in the subject line" of the message, which the news outlet reports was "punctuated with bolded font, underlined phrases and capitalization aimed at conveying the dire need for more signatures."

The report notes, at that time, "none of the six Republican presidential hopefuls had enough signatures to qualify for the state’s April 2 primary."

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Johnston Republican Town Committee Chair Sandra Taylor asserts, "Some people are afraid to put their names down on anything. They don’t want it to come up with their job, or anything."

News From The States reports:

Hesitation might also have grown in the wake of alleged signature fraud which rocked Rhode Island’s congressional special election over the summer. Signature sheets for candidates have always been public information, but typically don’t garner the scrutiny of news outlets, or the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office, which is still investigating Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ papers for fraud.

While registered voters of any political party can sign a candidate’s nomination papers – including for multiple candidates – Taylor thought the attention given to Matos’ signatures has turned potential signatories away this time around. Not that it was stopping her, and other Republicans, from trying anyway.

Johnston Republican Town Committee member Nick Acquaviva, according to the report, "blamed [President Joe] Biden for 'trying to rig the election again,'" although "More than half of Johnston voters backed Trump in 2020, including Acquaviva."

News From The States notes, "Biden, along with U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, had already crossed the 1,000-signature threshold as of midday Wednesday, although the results must still be double-checked by the Rhode Island Secretary of State."

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News From The States' full report is here.