Secretary Gorbea Announces Rhode Island’s Field of Presidential Delegate Candidates

PROVIDENCE, RI – Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea today announced that 166 Rhode
Islanders gathered the required signatures to qualify to run as presidential
delegates in the state’s April 26 Presidential Preference Primary (PPP). This number
is higher than the 119 delegates who qualified in 2012, but lower than the 184 in
2008.

These delegate candidates will run alongside the presidential candidates they hope
to represent at the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer.

Interested delegate candidates had to collect the signatures of at least 150
eligible Rhode Island voters in order to qualify to appear on the ballot. Nearly 190
people had filed the necessary paperwork with the Department of State to run for
delegate. The Department certified more than 25,000 signatures from the local Boards
of Canvassers.

On the Democratic ballot, 27 delegate candidates have qualified for Hillary Clinton
and 25 have qualified for Bernie Sanders. Voters will elect 15 delegates to
represent the Democratic candidate at the Democratic National Convention in
Philadelphia, PA this summer.

On the Republican side, delegate candidates have qualified for Ben Carson, Ted Cruz,
John R. Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump. Rubio led all Republican candidates
with 40 delegate candidates qualifying, followed by Trump with 34, Kasich with 20,
Cruz with 19 and Carson with 1. Voters will elect 16 delegates and 16 alternates to
represent the Republican candidate at this summer’s Republican National Convention
in Cleveland, OH.

The next milestone in the state’s PPP calendar is March 9th, when the Department of
State will hold a public lottery at the State House to determine the order in which
the presidential and delegate candidates will appear on the Democratic and
Republican ballots.

Eligible Rhode Island voters are reminded that they must register to vote by March
27th in order to cast a ballot in the presidential preference primary. April 5th is
the deadline to apply for a mail ballot.

For more information on the PPP or any other information related to elections and
voting in Rhode Island, please visit the Rhode Island Department of State’s
Elections Division online at www.sos.ri.gov/elections or call (401) 222-2340.