COURTESY OF RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
“ Guess what : Even in 1744 people had Rhode Island-itus ,” says Phoebe Bean , a librarian at the Rhode Island Historical Society . When Rhode Island was a mere colony , voters — many of whom had crops to plant during the spring election — loathed travelling all the way to Newport , then the capital , to cast their votes for governor , lieutenant governor and ten “ assistants ,” or senators . Enter the prox , a printed election ballot collected by a town moderator , sealed and sent by some conveyance to Newport . Rhode Island was the first English colony in America to offer voting via printed ballot and this prox from 1744 , in the Rhode Island Historical Society collections , is the earliest we have on record . Bean and prox expert Russell DeSimone agree it was likely printed by Ann Franklin , the widow of Ben Franklin ’ s older brother , James , who , despite her role in the electoral process , was ineligible to vote . — CASEY NILSSON
96 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2020