This bill establishes a new section, 17-15-4.1, in Chapter 17-15 of the General Laws regarding primary elections, specifying that this chapter applies to all party primary elections, except for general assembly offices. It mandates that for the offices of state representative and state senator, a primary election runoff will occur when there are three or more candidates, including write-in candidates. This runoff will be governed by a newly established Chapter 15.1, which outlines the rules for "Primary Election Instant Runoff" using ranked choice voting specifically for general assembly primary elections.

Chapter 15.1 includes definitions for key terms related to ranked choice voting, such as "active candidate," "highest-ranked active candidate," "inactive ballots," "overvote," "ranking," "round," "skipped ranking," and "undervote." It details the process for voters to rank candidates in order of choice and specifies that the ballot shall allow voters to rank as many choices as there are candidates, subject to the limitations of voting equipment.

The tabulation of votes will proceed in rounds, where if two or fewer active candidates remain, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected. If more than two active candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are transferred to the next-ranked active candidates. The bill also addresses the handling of inactive ballots and undervotes, and it requires the board of elections to report on the total number of inactive ballots in each round. Additionally, the state board of elections is granted rulemaking authority to implement these changes. The act is set to take effect on January 1, 2026.