After more than ten years of court battles, lengthy debates and multiple rule changes by the state Board of Elections, North Carolina voters will be required to show a photo ID with early voting tomorrow.
IDs were required for the 2024 elections, but the rules have since been tweaked again to allow certain additional forms of ID.
Voters must present an acceptable photo ID when they check in at the polling place during early voting or on Election Day, according to the State Board of Elections. Election workers check to see if the picture on the ID reasonably resembles the voter and if the name on the ID is the same as or very similar to the voter’s name in their registration record. The address on the photo ID does not have to match the voter registration records.
If the voter does not show an acceptable ID, the voter may complete an ID Exception Form and then vote with a provisional ballot, or vote with a provisional ballot and then return to the county board of elections office with their photo ID before noon on the third business day after the election.
Acceptable forms of ID include:
- North Carolina driver’s license
- State ID from the NCDMV, also called “non-operator ID”
- Driver’s license or non-driver ID from another state, District of Columbia, or U.S. territory (only if voter registered in North Carolina within 90 days of the election)
- U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport card
- North Carolina voter photo ID card issued by a county board of elections
- College or university student photo ID approved by the State Board of Elections
- State or local government or charter school employee photo ID approved by the State Board of Elections
Voters 65 or older may use an expired form of acceptable ID if the ID was unexpired on their 65th birthday.
Other types of ID include any of the following, regardless of whether the ID contains an expiration or issuance date:
- Military or veterans ID card with photo issued by the U.S. government
- Tribal enrollment card with photoissued by a tribe recognized by the State of North Carolina or the federal government
- ID card with photo issued by an agency of the U.S. government or the State of North Carolina for a public assistance program.
County boards will issue voter photo ID cards during early voting, but they will not be making IDs between the end of early voting and Primary Day on March 3.
The General Assembly passed the state’s first Voter ID law in 2011, but it wasn’t implemented until the 2024 elections, due to lawsuits and questions about what kinds of ID would be accepted. Several lawsuits are still pending at the state level regarding Voter ID.
Almost 6,900 out of 5.7 million North Carolina voters went to the polls in 2024 without photo ID, the state Board of Elections said. Most were able to cast a provisional ballot. County elections boards counted most of them. Statewide, 1,670 people – one out of every 3,400 voters — had a ballot rejected for lack of ID.
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