§ 17-8-1 - Appointment of bipartisan authority.
SECTION 17-8-1
§ 17-8-1 Appointment of bipartisanauthority. – The legislative body of each city and town shall appoint a bipartisancanvassing authority of three (3) qualified electors of the city or town, notmore than two (2) of whom shall belong to the same political party, and mayappoint two (2) alternate members, not more than one of whom shall belong tothe same political party. At any meeting of the canvassing authority at which amember is to be absent, the member may request that an alternate replace him orher for that meeting; provided, that the alternate member must be of the samepolitical party as the member. The mayor or the president of the town councilshall nominate the members of the canvassing authority from lists of partyvoters submitted by the respective chairpersons of the city or town politicalcommittee, which lists shall contain the names of five (5) times the number ofpersons to be appointed. If the legislative body refuses to approve thenomination of any person to the canvassing authority, the mayor or thepresident shall submit to the legislative body another person named on one ofthe lists, and so on until a person is appointed. If the chairperson of thecity or town committee of a political party entitled to an appointment fails orrefuses to submit a list, the mayor or the president shall nominate any partyvoter of the political party entitled to the appointment.