Voter ID is now getting its first test in NC. What voters need to know.
North Carolina voters will be required to show photo identification at the polls Thursday, ushering in a new era of voting rules.
The state’s 2018 voter ID law went into use for the first time Thursday, the start of the first election since the state Supreme Court ruled that the law isn’t racially discriminatory.
Charlotte and Sanford are the only two cities in the state with elections starting now — early voting in the primary election for city council races in both cities. The coming days could provide examples of what kind of hiccups, if any, election officials may run into when there are more elections held later this year, and possibly next year in the 2024 presidential election.
Thursday morning in Sanford, it was smooth sailing. Only six voters came to cast ballots in the early hours of the polls being open, and all had valid IDs.
Tennessee Richmond, a local Democratic voter who was casting a ballot in her party's primary for a contested seat on the city council on Thursday morning, said she had no issues with the new rules for voting.
"No, no, it was just fine," she said.
In this and future elections most people, like Richmond, will just show their state driver’s license at the polls and be approved to cast a ballot.
But for people with expired licenses, or for those who don’t have one at all, the rules can become more complicated.
Jane Rae Fawcett, the Lee County elections director, said she has been talking about voter ID in recent weeks to the local newspaper and radio stations, to try to raise awareness. She said she didn't anticipate any problems — but added that the tiny county's only early voting site is at the county elections office, so all the experts will be just a few feet away in case any issues do crop up in the coming days.
"If we have any problems we should be able to handle those pretty quickly," she said. "And I don’t think there will be, since these days most people have ID.”
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has a new webpage to help voters learn the new voter ID rules — which IDs are acceptable, how to get a free ID if needed, what rights voters have if they lack an ID, and more. There’s a video and a written guide for the public at www.ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id.
State elections officials are also asking members of the general public not to harass one another at the polls for lacking ID, or for any other reason.
“Every eligible voter is entitled to cast their ballot freely, without harassment or intimidation,” the North Carolina State Board of Elections wrote in a recent press release. “Voters who feel harassed or intimidated should notify an election official immediately.”
Many cities in North Carolina have nonpartisan elections, where candidates don’t run as a member of any political party. But for cities that do have partisan races — and which need to first hold a primary election to determine which candidate will represent their party — those primaries are in September. This year, that only applies to Sanford and Charlotte.
People who want to vote but don’t have any qualifying ID won’t be turned away. They’ll be allowed to cast what’s known as a “provisional ballot” — which officials won’t count unless the voter either comes back later to show their ID, or if the voter fills out an impediment form explaining that they don't have an ID.
People who want to get an ID can also go to their home county’s Board of Elections office, which will take their photo and verify their name, birth date and social security number to create an ID that can be used in this and future elections. That option will be available during early voting in all future election cycles. Fawcett said so far, there hasn't been a huge demand for those IDs in Lee County, with only three or four people coming in to ask for one.
Similarly, people who aren’t registered to vote but wish to cast a ballot can sign up to vote during early voting at a polling place. For more about that or other election-related matters, visit www.ncsbe.gov.
