Rhode Island — the smallest state in The Union, and the setting for a beautiful July wedding on Narragansett Bay to which I was invited.
Everyone in Rhode Island seems to know everyone else, particularly within their own small communities. And with a population of just over one million citizens, which has barely increased since 2012, it's no wonder. A fellow guest expressed to me that after living in the same house for over 10 years, he was still considered an "outsider" by some of his neighbors.
The territory of the state of Rhode Island is a mere 1,214 square miles, and it is ranked the second-most densely populated state. As I glanced through some of the local newspapers, it occurred to me that Rhode Island could provide a microcosmic sample of issues that plague or bless our entire nation.
One of those issues often debated by citizens and media alike is that of voter integrity. The Providence Journal recently reported that Rhode Island's Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea conducted an audit of the state's voter registry. Gorbea found at least 150,000 nonresidents registered to vote in the state. Of the 781,770 registered voters in Rhode Island in 2016, the nonresidents identified by the Secretary of State's audit represents an astounding 19 percent of all registered voters.
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