North Carolina Require Voter Identification Amendment (2026)

North Carolina Require Voter Identification Amendment
Election date November 3, 2026
Topic Voter ID policy
Status On the ballot
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The North Carolina Voter Identification Amendment is on the ballot in North Carolina as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.

A "yes" vote supports amending the constitution to require photo identification to vote for all voters, not just those voting in person.

A "no" vote opposes requiring photo identification to vote by voting methods other than in-person voting.

Overview

What would the amendment do?

See also: Text of measure

The ballot measure would require photographic identification to vote for all voters, not just those voting in person. As of 2024, the photo voter ID requirement only applied to those voting in person.

Does North Carolina require ID to vote?

See also: Voter ID in North Carolina

In 2018, voters approved a constitutional amendment that created a constitutional requirement that voters present a photo ID to vote in person. The amendment was placed on the ballot through a vote of the state legislature with all Republican legislators in favor and all Democratic legislators against. Voters approved the measure with 55.49% in favor to 44.51% opposed. Implementation of the amendment was blocked pending the resolution of legal challenges, however, on April 28, 2023, the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed a previous ruling, allowing the voter ID law to take effect.

As of 2024, state law required individuals using mail-in absentee ballots to include a photocopy of identification. State law provided for an ID exception form if the voter could not present ID, providing a reason such as the ID being lost or stolen, lack of transportation, disability or illness, religious reasons, experiencing a natural disaster within 100 days before the election, and more. For mail voters unable to attach a photocopy, the voter's driver's license number or last four digits of social security number could be substituted.

What voter identification laws exist in other states?

See also: Background

As of 2024, 35 states required voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day. Of these states, 24 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, and 11 accepted other forms of identification. The remaining 16 states did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day.

Valid forms of identification differed by state. In certain states that required voters to provide identification, there may have been exceptions that allow some voters to cast a ballot without providing an ID. To see more about these exceptions, see details by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.

How many ballot measures addressing voter identification have there been?

See also: Ballot measures related to voter identification

Between 2004 and 2024, voters in nine states decided on 10 ballot measures related to voter identification. All but two measures in Arizona and Minnesota were approved. Seven of the measures amended state constitutions, and three changed state law. The average "yes" vote was 67.42%.

Ballot measures related to voter identification are on the ballot in Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin for elections in 2025 and 2026. Nevada Question 7 needs to be approved a second time in 2026 after it was approved in 2024 due to state constitutional requirements for adopting constitutional measures.

What are supporters and opponents saying about the amendment?

See also: Support and Opposition

Sen. Warren Daniel (R-46) said, “Voter ID is a commonsense security measure that needs to apply equally to all voters. As voting has evolved over the years, protecting against fraud needs to as well. We shouldn’t treat one form of voting differently, and our constitution should reflect that.”

Katelin Kaiser, policy director of Democracy North Carolina, said, “This is another attempt to disenfranchise voters by mail, and it is working. Legislative leadership has made it more difficult for students, older people, and people who are disabled to vote by mail in North Carolina.”

How did this amendment get on the ballot?

See also Path to the ballot

The amendment was passed by the state Senate in a vote of 30-19, along partisan lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. The House passed the bill with all 72 Republicans in favor. Among House Democrats, 45 voted against the bill, and one joined Republicans voting in favor of the bill.

Heading into the 2024 general election, North Carolina was one of four states with a governor of one party and a supermajority of a different party. The state had a Democratic governor, while Republicans had a 30-20 majority in the state Senate and a 72-48 majority in the state House. At the 2024 general election, Republicans retained 30 of 50 (60%) seats in the Senate. In the House, Republicans won 71 of 120 (59%) seats, a decrease from 72 (60%) before the election. The decrease meant that, as of 2025, Republicans could no longer pass constitutional amendments along partisan lines in the House.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question for this amendment is as follows:

“

[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST Constitutional amendment to require all voters, not just those presenting to vote in person, to present photo identification before voting.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VI, North Carolina Constitution

The ballot measure would amend Sections 2 and 3 of Article VI of the North Carolina Constitution. The following underlined text would be added and struck-through text would be deleted:

Section 2: Qualifications of Voter

(1) Residence period for State elections. Any person who has resided in the State of North Carolina for one year and in the precinct, ward, or other election district for 30 days next preceding an election, and possesses the other qualifications set out in this Article, shall be entitled to vote at any election held in this State. Removal from one precinct, ward, or other election district to another in this State shall not operate to deprive any person of the right to vote in the precinct, ward, or other election district from which that person has removed until 30 days after the removal.

(2) Residence period for presidential elections. The General Assembly may reduce the time of residence for persons voting in presidential elections. A person made eligible by reason of a reduction in time of residence shall possess the other qualifications set out in this Article, shall only be entitled to vote for President and Vice President of the United States or for electors for President and Vice President, and shall not thereby become eligible to hold office in this State.

(3) Disqualification of felon. No person adjudged guilty of a felony against this State or the United States, or adjudged guilty of a felony in another state that also would be a felony if it had been committed in this State, shall be permitted to vote unless that person shall be first restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

(4) Photo identification for voting in person voting. Voters offering to vote in person shall present photographic identification before voting. The General Assembly shall enact general laws governing the requirements of such photographic identification, which may include exceptions.

Section 3: Registration; Voting in Person Voting

(1) Every person offering to vote shall be at the time legally registered as a voter as herein prescribed and in the manner provided by law. The General Assembly shall enact general laws governing the registration of voters.

(2) Voters offering to vote in person shall present photographic identification before voting. The General Assembly shall enact general laws governing the requirements of such photographic identification, which may include exceptions.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Sen. Warren Daniel (R)
• State Sen. Dan Newton (Independent)

Arguments

• Sen. Warren Daniel (R-46): “Voter ID is a commonsense security measure that needs to apply equally to all voters. As voting has evolved over the years, protecting against fraud needs to as well. We shouldn’t treat one form of voting differently, and our constitution should reflect that.”

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

• State Rep. Mary Harrison (D)

Organizations

• Democracy North Carolina

Arguments

• Katelin Kaiser, policy director of Democracy North Carolina: “This is another attempt to disenfranchise voters by mail, and it is working. Legislative leadership has made it more difficult for students, older people, and people who are disabled to vote by mail in North Carolina.”
• Democracy North Carolina: "The voter ID law causes confusion whether or not it is the law of the land. Even after the voter ID law was overturned in the past, it continued to wreak havoc, deterring voters from the ballot box even after it had been stricken. Voter ID has a direct and disparate impact on those in the Black and brown communities. Research has found that Black voters are more likely than white voters to lack a qualifying ID. In addition, voter ID laws have been shown to be an active deterrent to voting, particularly for Black and brown voters. It’s been shown that voters without ID are either unable to vote because they arrive at the polls without an ID, or more significantly, those without ID decide to not go to the polls in the first place as a result of the law."
• Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause: "I would be very sorry to see someone be disenfranchised because they have trouble including a copy of their photo ID with their mail-in ballot."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for North Carolina ballot measures

Ballotpedia did not identify committees registered to support or oppose the measure. If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

Voter ID in North Carolina

See also: North Carolina Voter ID Amendment (2018)

In 2018, voters approved a constitutional amendment that created a constitutional requirement that voters present a photo ID to vote in person. The amendment was placed on the ballot through a vote of the state legislature with all Republican legislators in favor and all Democratic legislators against. Voters approved the measure with 55.49% in favor to 44.51% opposed.

The amendment was delayed in taking effect amid litigation in which plaintiffs argued that SB 824 was unconstitutional because it negatively affected African American voters and placed a barrier on certain citizens' right to vote. On April 28, 2023, the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed its decision in Holmes v. Moore, allowing the voter ID law to take effect. The court's five Republican members were in favor of voter ID while the three Democratic justices opposed it. In the majority opinion, the court wrote, "Plaintiffs here have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that S.B. 824 was enacted with discriminatory intent or that the law actually produces a meaningful disparate impact along racial lines. The prior opinion is withdrawn, and we reverse and remand to the trial court for entry of an order dismissing plaintiffs’ claim with prejudice."

In 2013, the North Carolina State Legislature passed a statute to require that voters present a photo ID to vote beginning in 2016. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit struck down the state's photo ID requirement on July 29, 2016. The Court of Appeals ruled that the state legislature had enacted the requirement with racially-discriminatory intent.

Accepted forms of ID

The following forms of ID were accepted to vote in North Carolina for 2024 elections:

If unexpired or expired for one year or less:

• North Carolina driver’s license;
• NCDMV non-operator ID;
• driver’s or non-driver ID from another state, DC, or US territory (only if registered in NC within 90 days of the election);
• U.S. Passport or passport card;
• state voter photo ID card;
• college or university student ID approved by the State Board of Elections; and
• state or local government employee ID approved by the State Board of Elections

Voters 65 and older may use expired IDs if they were unexpired on their 65th birthday.

Any of the following were acceptable regardless of expiration or issuance date:

• military or veterans ID card (with photo) issued by the federal government;
• tribal enrollment card (with photo) issued by a recognized state or federal tribe; and
• ID card (with photo) issued by a US or NC government agency for a public assistance program.

As of 2024, state law required individuals using mail-in absentee ballots to include a photocopy of identification. State law provided for an ID exception form if the voter could not present ID, providing a reason such as the ID being lost or stolen, lack of transportation, disability or illness, religious reasons, experiencing a natural disaster within 100 days before the election, and more. For mail voters unable to attach a photocopy, the voter's driver's license number or last four digits of social security number could be substituted.

Ballot measures related to voter identification

See also: Voter ID policy ballot measures

Ballot measures related to voter identification are on the ballot in Maine, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin for elections in 2025 and 2026. Nevada Question 7 needs to be approved a second time in 2026 after it was approved in 2024. Three measures are constitutional amendments, as opposed to statutory requirements. Constitutional amendments require voter approval, which is a higher threshold to enact or change them than statutory requirements that can be changed by a legislative vote. The Maine initiative is a statutory requirement.

State	Year	Ballot Measure	Type	Status
Nevada	2026	Nevada Question 7	Initiated constitutional amendment	On the ballot
North Carolina	2026	North Carolina Require Voter Identification Amendment	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	On the ballot
Maine	2025	Maine Question 1	Indirect initiated state statute	On the ballot
Wisconsin	2025	Wisconsin Question 1	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved

Between 2004 and 2024, voters in nine states decided on 10 ballot measures related to voter identification. All but two measures in Arizona and Minnesota were approved. Six states added a photo ID voter requirement to their respective state constitutions, and two states (Arizona and Oklahoma) passed statutory requirements. The average "yes" vote was 67.42%. The table below lists the measures by state, year, and type.

State	Year	Measure	Type	Yes (%)	No (%)	Status
Arizona	2004	Proposition 200	Statutory	55.64%	44.36%	a
Arizona	2022	Proposition 309	Statutory	49.62%	50.38%	d
Arkansas	2018	Issue 2	Constitutional	79.47%	20.53%	a
Minnesota	2012	Amendment 2	Constitutional	46.16%	53.84%	d
Mississippi	2011	Initiative 27	Constitutional	62.07%	37.93%	a
Missouri	2016	Amendment 6	Constitutional	63.01%	36.99%	a
Nebraska	2022	Initiative 432	Constitutional	65.45%	34.55%	a
Nevada	2024	Question 7	Constitutional	73.23%	26.77%	a
North Carolina	2018	Voter ID Amendment	Constitutional	79.47%	20.53%	a
Oklahoma	2010	Question 746	Statutory	74.34%	25.66%	a
Average				64.85%	35.15%

Voter identification laws by state

See also: Voter identification laws by state

As of June 2025, 36 states required voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day, but many states provide for exceptions to these rules. Of these states, 25 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, with certain exceptions, and 11 states did not explicitly require photo identification. The remaining 14 states did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day.

In the map below, states that require registered voters to present identification at the polls on Election Day or that require poll workers to request identification from a vote are classified as states requiring identification. Some of these states provide for exceptions to these requirements. See the table below the map for more details. Follow the links provided for additional information about voter identification in each state.

Several states that do not require identification generally require first-time voters to present identification at the polls. Other states that don't generally require identification may require it if the voter did not provide proper identification to register. Federal law requires newly registered voters to provide either a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security Numbers at the time of registration. Many states that require identification allow voters to cast provisional ballots if they do not have the required identification. Hover over each state in the map below for more details.

Path to the ballot

Amending the North Carolina Constitution

See also: Amending the North Carolina Constitution

A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the North Carolina General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 72 votes in the North Carolina House of Representatives and 30 votes in the North Carolina State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

Senate Bill 921 (2024)

The following is the timeline of the constitutional amendment in the state legislature:

• December 2, 2024: The state Senate passed the amendment in a vote of 30-19 with one member not voting.
• December 11, 2024: The state House passed the amendment in a vote of 73-45 with two members not voting.

Partisan Direction Index = +98.5% (Republican)

Democratic Support

1.5%

Republican Support

100.0%

North Carolina State Senate

Voted on December 2, 2024

Votes Required to Pass: 30
	Yes	No	NV
Total	30	19	1
Total %	60.0%	38.0%	2.0%
Democratic (D)	0	19	1
Republican (R)	30	0	0

North Carolina House of Representatives

Voted on December 11, 2024

Votes Required to Pass: 72
	Yes	No	NV
Total	73	45	2
Total %	60.8%	37.5%	1.7%
Democratic (D)	1	45	2
Republican (R)	72	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in North Carolina

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in North Carolina.

How to vote in North Carolina

Poll times

In North Carolina, polling places are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Any voter who is standing in line at the time polls close must be permitted to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in North Carolina, each applicant must be a United States citizen, a resident of the county in which they are registering to vote for at least 30 days before the election, be at least 16 years old at the time of application and at least 18 years old by the time of the subsequent general election, and not be serving a felony sentence, including probation and parole The North Carolina voter registration application is available online.

Voter registration applications can be completed online or submitted to the appropriate county board of elections. Applications must be submitted at least 25 days before the election, but voters can also register and vote on the same day during the early voting period, but not on Election Day.

Voter registration services are also provided by the following agencies:

• Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
• Division of Services for the Blind
• Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
• Division of Health Benefits
• Division of Child and Family Well-Being/WIC
• Division of Social Services
• Division of Rehabilitation Services
• Division of Employment Security (DES)
• Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities

Automatic registration

North Carolina does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

North Carolina has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

North Carolina allows same-day voter registration during the early voting period only.

Residency requirements

Prospective voters must reside in the county in which they are registering to vote for at least 30 days before the election.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

North Carolina does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who fraudulently or falsely registers is guilty of a "Class I felony under Chapter 163 of the NC General Statutes."

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The North Carolina State Board of Elections allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.

Voter ID requirements

North Carolina requires voters to present photo ID when voting.

Note: According to the Board of Elections website, "On April 28, 2023, the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed an injunction against implementation of photo ID legislation. As a result, photo ID laws enacted in 2018 and 2019 will be implemented moving forward, starting with the municipal elections in September, October, and November 2023. A separate federal case challenging the same laws is pending, but no injunction against the laws exists in that case." The injunction was issued on December 16, 2022.

The following documents were acceptable forms of identification as of May 2024:

“

Any of the following that is unexpired, or expired for one year or less: 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 ID approved by the State Board of Elections (...) State or local government or charter school employee ID approved by the State Board of Elections (...) Note: A voter 65 or older may use an expired form of acceptable ID if the ID was unexpired on their 65th birthday. 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 photo) issued 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 (Note: Although this is an acceptable form of ID under North Carolina law, the State Board is not aware of any such ID in circulation that contains a photo. All IDs for voting are required to have a photo.)

”

For a list of acceptable student and public employee IDs, click here.

See also

2026 measures

• 2026 ballot measures
• Voting policy measures on the ballot

North Carolina

• North Carolina ballot measures
• North Carolina ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• SB 921 Full text

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