Signature challenges knock one GOP hopeful out of the General Assembly races. What to know.

PROVIDENCE – Cumberland Rep. Mia Ackerman has joined the ranks of Rhode Island lawmakers running for reelection unopposed after a Board of Elections inquiry left her would-be opponent short the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

Republican Kenneth Atkinson need a minimum of 50 signatures on his nominating petitions to qualify.

He submitted 51 signatures and acknowledged, before the elections board had finished voting on a number of signatures challenged by Ackerman, that he had come up short.

"I accept the judgment," he said.

How does this impact the General Assembly races?

With this decision, it appears 58 seats in the 113-seat General Assembly, more than half, are uncontested. (Typically around a third of seats go uncontested.)

The elections board considered challenges in two other races, but neither ended up making a difference.

State GOP Chairman Joe Powers tried to knock Republican Rep. David Place's Democratic challenger, Paul Roselli, out of the running in House District 47, encompassing Burrillville and Glocester.

Powers alleged Roselli was two signatures short of the required number, but he submitted his challenge electronically, which state law does not allow.

Over in Senate District 14 in East Providence, former Rep. Brian Coogan alleged that one of the campaign workers collecting signatures for his Democratic primary opponent – Senate Majority Whip Valarie Lawson – lied in writing about personally witnessing all the signatures he turned in. Coogan produced an affidavit from one voter to substantiate his argument and challenged other signatures.

Since Lawson had many more signatures than the number Coogan challenged, and because the accused was not present and there was no question she qualified for the ballot, the board voted to have its staff look further into Coogan's allegations between now and its meeting next month and report back.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Signature challenges knock one GOP hopeful out of the General Assembly races. What to know.