PROVIDENCE — With tomorrow’s deadline for registering to vote in the November election fast approaching, two watchdog groups say they are worried that some voters could have their ballots disqualified on Election Day.

The problem: cities and towns have closed more than 80 polling stations since the last presidential election, meaning voters who aren’t aware of the change could easily head for the wrong polling place. State election law dictates that anyone who appears at the incorrect spot be given a provisional ballot –– which only counts votes for federal, not local office.

“All of their votes [in] statewide elections, [on] statewide referenda and city or town-wide elections and referenda are thrown out, even when there is no question about their qualifications and residence in the municipality where the ballot was cast,” said Christine Lopes, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island.

Even worse, some of the old polling places remain open, but voters have been assigned to different spots to better handle traffic flow.

Together with the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause this week blanketed the state’s local boards of canvassers with letters urging the departments to notify all voters by mail of their newest polling location.

“The reality is that thousands of residents may be voting for the first time since the last presidential election four years ago and they will not be aware of any polling changes that have taken place since that time,” the pair writes in the letter.

The secretary of state’s office also acknowledges cause for concern.

“Some people might be voting for the third time this year at a third location and it’s obvious that some people will be confused by that,” said Christopher Barnett, spokesman for Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis.

To help avert potential problems, the secretary of state has created a voter information Web site inviting registered voters to look up their polling places and even download a map and directions. The site got more than 80,000 hits in the days leading up to the March primary, which Barnett says shows that “if you give people the tools, they will use them.”

But to take advantage of the site, voters must have access to a computer, something many Rhode Islanders, particularly the elderly and the poor do not, Lopes and ACLU executive director Steven Brown note in their letter.

That’s why Barnett says the state has also established a hotline for voters to call and access their election information: (401) 222-2340.

Still he said, “Communities should do everything they can to let voters know where their polling place is on Nov. 4.”

Some local boards of canvassers have already mailed fliers to voters whose polling places have changed, but Lopes says all of them need to do so.

The problem there is money. Many local offices have already stretched their budgets by holding Saturday hours tomorrow –– the final day to register to vote before Nov. 4.

Barnett said the state is doing what it can to secure federal grant money for advertisements to drive voters to the Web site and the hot line in the final days leading up to the election.

For a complete list of Boards of Canvassers that will be open tomorrow go to: www.sec.state.ri.us/elections/news-items/register-to-vote-by-august-9/?searchterm=None

To visit the Secretary of State’s voter information center go to: www.sec.state.ri.us/vic/

cneedham@projo.com