Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis has announced the July date for the lottery for the state ballot, which will take place before a crowd of candidates and their supporters.

“I am pleased to announce the date of the Rhode Island state ballot lottery, and I invite the public to join our office at the State House to witness the outcome of the lottery,” said Mollis.  “This is the most fair and impartial way to determine the order in which our candidates and political parties will appear on this year’s primary and election ballots.”

On Friday, July 18 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the State Room at the State House, the Secretary of State’s office will hold a lottery to determine the order in which unendorsed candidates and political parties will appear on the ballots for the Sept. 9 statewide primary and the Nov. 4 general election.

The Secretary of State’s Office will utilize a lottery machine from the R.I. Lottery for the state ballot lottery, and the lottery will be similar to what viewers see when they watch the state’s nightly daily numbers selected on television.

Candidates and parties will be assigned specially calibrated white balls (similar to ping pong balls), and representatives from the R.I. Lottery will operate the device. When the lottery begins, and a ball floats to the top of the machine, the name of the “winner” will be announced.