NEWPORT — Voters will go to the polls Tuesday in the Democratic primary for the District 75 House of Representatives seat left vacant by the September death of long-time Democratic lawmaker Paul W. Crowley.

Former Democratic Sen. J. Clement “Bud” Cicilline, 67, faces David R. Carlin III, a former Crowley opponent, in the primary.

Cicilline, president and chief executive of the Newport County Mental Health Center, served in the Senate for a decade, until 2003, when he was defeated by another long-time Newport legislator, M. Teresa Paiva Weed, in a primary match-up forced by redistricting. Before that, Cicilline, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, served on the School Committee for 12 years.

Carlin, 37, a lobbyist for the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and the son of School Committee member and former state Senate majority leader David R. Carlin Jr., had lost to Crowley in the last two Democratic primaries for the District 75 seat.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican newcomer Steven J. Coaty, 47, a lawyer with a Middletown practice, and independent James Stanek, another newcomer, in the general election on Dec. 18.

The District 75 seat represents all of Newport except a small section in a northeast area of the city.

Monday is the final day to cast emergency absentee ballots at the canvassing office at City Hall. The office will be open that day from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for emergency ballots only.

Polls will be open Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the following polling places:

•Ward 1, District 5: St. John’s Church Hall, Willow Street

•Ward 2, District 4: Thompson Middle School, 39 Broadway

•Ward 2, District 5: Donovan Manor, 19 Chapel St.

•Ward 3, District 1: Clarke School Apartments, 24 Mary St.

•Ward 3, District 2: Newport Public Library, 300 Spring St.

•Ward 3, District 3: St. Augustin’s School, 5 Harrison Ave.

•Ward 3, District 4: Carey School, 27 Narragansett Ave.

The state Board of Elections, meanwhile, is considering legal action against Carlin, who owes $3,630 in fines because he filed late campaign-finance reports in 2004 and 2005, according to Richard Thornton, the board’s supervising accountant. (As of yesterday, Carlin had also not filed a report due Nov. 6 and could face additional fines. Cicilline has no outstanding reports or fines, Thornton said.)

Carlin appealed the penalty, but the board denied his request to reduce his fine, Thornton said. After that decision, Carlin asked that the board return a $900 check he had written in anticipation of the board ruling in his favor.

In a recent letter to The Journal, Carlin’s father said his son is appealing the fines to the Superior Court, contending that the board is fining him four times more than what is legally allowed.

mwims@projo.com