Question 1 was a 2020 ballot measure in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

to change the official name of the state from State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to State of Rhode Island. The proposal passed with 53% of the vote.

Background

The state was officially named the "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" when it declared statehood in 1790. Over time it became commonly known as simply "Rhode Island". In June 2020, Governor

Gina Raimondo Gina Marie Raimondo (; born May 17, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and venture capitalist who has served as the 40th United States Secretary of Commerce since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 75th g ...

signed an executive order to remove the phrase "Providence Plantations" from all official state documents. Raimondo wrote "the pain that this association causes to some of our residents should be of concern to all Rhode Islanders and we should do everything in our power to ensure that all communities can take pride in our state", referring to the ties of the word "

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

" to

American slavery The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Slaver ...

. However, changing the state's full official name required a state constitutional amendment that needed to be approved by voters.

Results

References

question 1 Rhode Island Question 1 Rhode Island ballot measures

Name changes due to the George Floyd protests {{RhodeIsland-election-stub