Uprise RI — You must own property to vote in this Rhode Island fire district’s elections

Thomas Dorr

June 9, 2021
By Steve Ahlquist — “Until every one of our local governments are elected by the people they serve, our work is not done” said ACLU of RI cooperating attorney James Rhodes. “Participation in free and fair elections, whether it be for president, state legislature or local fire district, is the cornerstone of our democracy.”

The ACLU of Rhode Island on Wednesday filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of a lawsuit challenging a policy of the Bonnet Shores Fire District (BSFD) in Narragansett that bars residents from voting if they own less than $400 of property in the district, while allowing thousands of non-resident beach cabana owners – including those owning sixteen square feet “cabanas” of “bathhouses” that fall far short of minimum dwelling standards and are used primarily for equipment storage – to exercise the right.

The BSFD annual meeting and election is on Saturday, June 24, 2021. (See flyer below)

In 1841 Thomas Wilson Dorr led the Dorr Rebellion in an attempt to expand voting rights beyond the white male property owning elites of Rhode Island, and though the rebellion failed, the greater point eventually won out. In 1928 the Rhode Island General Assembly finally repealed municipal property requirements limiting the right to vote in municipal elections.

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