Live updates
Polls close at 8 p.m. in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Race calls are based on reports from the Associated Press, unless otherwise noted. Results are preliminary and subject to certification by the Board of Elections.
- Government Center, Fall River, 3:07 p.m., via reporter Jo Goode: There is robust voter turnout in Fall River with Board of Elections Chairman Ryan Lyons saying that lines wrapped around most of the city’s 27 polling places by 6:30 a.m. this morning. Lyons is predicting a voter turnout of 64%, up a bit from the 62% in 2020. He said the Commonwealth’s five ballot questions have also piqued voter interest, particularly the question on the future of the MCAS testing in schools.
- 10:20 a.m., Summit Commons polling location in Providence, via Nina Sparling: A middle aged woman with a chic blonde haircut posed in front of the “Vote Here” sign outside the Summit Commons nursing home polling location. “She’s a neighbor and it’s her first time voting,” her friend advised, after I started pestering him with questions. Mona Delgado explained that she had long lived in the United States on a green card. Norwegian by birth, she didn’t want to revoke her citizenship. After Norway changed the rules to allow dual citizenship, Delgado went through the process to become a full citizen. Voting, she said, “was very smooth,” she said. “I can’t imagine how anybody can cheat.” Delgado and her compatriots affixed their I VOTED stickers to their fall jackets. “I’m going to a luncheon where you have to wear one of these to get in,” Delgado said.
- 10:20 a.m., Summit Commons polling location in Providence, via Nina Sparling: Sarah O’Halloran took a selfie with her two kids, all three sporting bright blue stickers. “This was a great experience to bring my kids to show them how lucky we are to be able to have a vote,” O’Halloran said. “Hopefully they’ll take that into account when they get older.” The kids seemed more interested in this reporter’s microphone than the voting process. One had watched their mom vote before. For the other, it was the inaugural experience. “I didn’t know it would be this boring,” he said. Luckily, a steady trickle of late-morning voters meant the wait wasn’t too long.
- 9:55 a.m., Summit Commons polling location in Providence, via Nina Sparling: Norine Duncan arrived at the Summit Commons polling location on Hillside Avenue in Providence a few minutes before 10 a.m., sporting a bright yellow t-shirt reading ELECTION PROTECTION. Duncan had signed up as a volunteer with Common Cause Rhode Island, a nonpartisan group that advocates for voting rights, to monitor the polls. “Everyone who’s eligible has a right to vote,” Duncan said. “Sometimes things get in the way, and they can’t vote.” Common Cause said 80 people signed up to volunteer as poll watchers today. The volunteers aren’t alone, though: the U.S. Department of Justice also sent out election monitors to the polls in Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket. Earlier this year, the federal agency entered into a consent decree with Pawtucket after alleging the city had violated the federal Voting Rights Act by failing to provide Spanish-language assistance for voters in past election cycles.
MORE ELECTIONS COVERAGE
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Fall River voters are embracing Trump and his harsh stance on immigration
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For advocates, homelessness is the key issue in Woonsocket election
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Voter Voices: ‘I don’t feel like the government cares about my voice’
What is driving young people to vote this election year, or to stay away from the polls? In the weeks leading up to Nov. 5, we’re sharing perspectives from young people in the region, talking about what matters most to them. This time, we hear from 20-year-old Republican Anthony D’Ellena of Narragansett.
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