RHODE ISLAND VOTERS have approved eliminating "Providence Plantations" from the state's official name. / PBN FILE PHOTO/FRANK MULLIN
Record numbers of voters locally and nationally cast ballots in the Nov. 3 elections, leading to a hotly contested presidential election and a host of changes among elected officials. In Rhode Island, House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, D-Cranston, was the highest-profile elected official to lose his reelection bid. Mattiello was ousted by Republican Barbara Ann…