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Rhode Island

Brown Health Hospitals Offer Emergency Ballot Applications

Patients admitted to Brown University Health hospitals can request emergency ballots as Election Day approaches.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Elections

Bold flat-color vector editorial illustration of a sealed tin ballot urn beside a hospital bed rail in an empty corridor, grey coastal sky in the window.
Brown University Health hospitals began offering emergency ballot applications to admitted patients, with applications due to canvassing boards by 4 p.m. Monday. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Brown University Health partnered with Vot-ER to hand out emergency ballot applications at each of its hospitals late last week. Applications were due to canvassing boards by 4 p.m. Monday, and Board of Elections workers will bring ballots to patients on Tuesday.

Why it matters

Hospitalized patients cannot travel to a ballot box on Election Day, so the emergency process gives them a way to vote. The program applies across Rhode Island, where state voting rules govern how these ballots are issued and delivered.

Applications were due to canvassing boards by 4 p.m. Monday, and the Board of Elections sends workers to deliver ballots to patients on Tuesday. Patients complete their ballots without assistance, and the number of applications received was not reported.

The players

Brown University Health

A Rhode Island health system whose hospitals hosted the emergency ballot application effort for admitted patients.

Vot-ER

A nonprofit voting initiative that partners with hospitals to help patients request emergency ballots.

Rhode Island Board of Elections

The state agency that delivers emergency ballots to hospitalized voters on Election Day.

The details

Brown University Health worked with Vot-ER to make emergency ballot applications available at its hospitals, and a group of Brown medical students set up a table to explain the voting process. Patients submit applications to the canvassing board in the city or town where they live, and the Board of Elections then brings ballots to them at the hospital.

Timeline

  1. Late last week: emergency ballot applications distributed at Brown University Health hospitals.

  2. Monday, 4 p.m.: deadline to deliver applications to canvassing boards.

  3. Tuesday: Board of Elections delivers ballots to hospitalized patients.

Big Picture

The hospital effort applies Rhode Island's existing emergency ballot provisions to patients who cannot reach a polling place, extending a state mechanism that already serves voters with medical emergencies.

Patients admitted to Rhode Island hospitals who are eligible to vote can request an emergency ballot before the Monday 4 p.m. deadline. Those who miss the deadline will not receive a ballot delivery on Tuesday.

The takeaway

Hospitalized voters in Rhode Island who want to participate should contact their local canvassing board before the Monday 4 p.m. deadline to ensure a Tuesday ballot delivery.

What happens next

The Board of Elections is scheduled to deliver emergency ballots to hospitalized patients on Tuesday.

Further reading

For background on how voters cast ballots across the state, see Rhode Island Elections.

Source note: This article includes information reported by WPRI.

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