Voter ID rollout going smoothly so far, NC elections officials say

North Carolina's new photo ID requirement for voting didn't cause problems in municipal elections in September and October, elections officials said Wednesday. But the real test is yet to come.

The newly implemented requirement was approved by the legislature in 2019 but was blocked by court injunction. It went into effect in May after a long legal battle that included a reconsideration and reversal by the state Supreme Court.

The law requires voters to present an approved form of voter photo ID, including a valid driver's license, a passport or some university identification cards. A full list of acceptable IDs is available at the state elections board website. Voters who don't have another option can get a free voter photo ID at their county board of elections.

Under the new law, voters who forget their ID can vote a provisional ballot and then return with their ID to their county board of elections within nine days after the election to have their vote counted. Voters who don't have or can't get a photo ID can use an exception form that is then reviewed by the county board.

Karen Brinson Bell, the state's elections director, told reporters Wednesday that the state elections board scrambled all summer to get the word out to voters and get poll workers and local officials trained to implement the new rules. For the 127 municipalities that held elections in September and October, the effort appears to have been successful.

"Thus far, most voters have been able to present one of the acceptable forms of ID," Bell said. Most showed a driver's license, but other photo IDs like passports and veteran's IDs were also used, she said. "We've seen also a few [voters using] exception forms, but no large-scale use of the exception form at this point."

According to state election board data, 20 voters in the October elections voted provisionally using the ID exception form. All 20 were accepted. Another 36 voters forgot their IDs and voted provisional ballots, but only 12 came back with their IDs and had their votes counted.

The new law is about to get a much bigger trial: 465 municipalities will hold elections this November. In-person early voting begins Thursday.

Bell expects the upcoming municipal elections to go smoothly, too. But next year's presidential elections could be a different case.

"When people participate in the municipal elections," Bell said, "they're often some of our most civically engaged individuals. So we have a different audience that we're conveying this message to right now than what we're going to be looking at 2024. There are a lot of people that do not participate, do not exercise the right to vote, except during those presidential election years. So we're really glad to see that we've got funding in the state budget to do a robust outreach campaign."

The state elections board will be working with a media company to advertise the new requirement next year, Bell said.

"We will certainly do mailers to inform voters because we have found those to be very effective," Bell said. "Advertising, community events, other things that we can do to more broadly reach North Carolinians and make sure that they are aware that photo ID is now in effect for our elections."

Voters wjo are unsure of whether their local government has an election this November, Bell said, the easiest way to check is to go to the state board of elections website and use the voter search tool. Eligible voters can find sample ballots there, she said.

NC state board of elections website: Voter photo ID