{"id":15428,"date":"2023-05-15T15:24:33","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T15:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voteriders.org\/?p=15428"},"modified":"2023-05-15T15:59:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T15:59:39","slug":"timeline-voter-id-nc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voteriders.org\/timeline-voter-id-nc\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing South: N.C. Supreme Court sets up tight timeline to implement voter ID"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY MAYDHA DEVARAJAN<\/a><\/span> \u2014 MAY 12, 2023<\/p>\n

\"VoteRiders
A recent state Supreme Court ruling puts North Carolina among the 35 states \u2014 including all 13 in the South \u2014 that have some kind of voter ID requirement in place or about to be. It also means that election officials have only a few months to prepare before this year’s local elections. (Map via Ballotpedia.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In less than four months, voters in some of North Carolina’s biggest cities will be\u00a0preparing for local elections<\/a>. In addition to checking that they’re properly registered and researching the issues and candidates, North Carolinians this year will also have to ensure they comply with a new voter identification requirement.<\/p>\n

On April 28, the Republican-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court\u00a0reversed decisions<\/a>\u00a0on voter ID mandates and partisan gerrymandering that had been made just five months prior by the previous court under a Democratic majority.\u00a0<\/b>For the state Supreme Court to rehear such cases is rare; in the previous 30 years, the court granted a petition for rehearing only twice, according to\u00a0The Daily Tar Heel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The voter ID ruling reversed a decision blocking a 2018 law that had required voters to show photo identification at their polling places \u2014 a law the lower court found to be racially discriminatory. North Carolina is now among the 35 states \u2014 including all 13 in the South \u2014 that have some kind of voter ID requirement in place or about to be, according to\u00a0Ballotpedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Republicans have long championed voter ID laws, claiming they curb election fraud \u2014 even though the kind of voter impersonation such laws can prevent is\u00a0extremely rare<\/a>. Opponents point to the disproportionate disenfranchising impacts such laws have on communities of color and other demographic groups \u2014 people with disabilities, the elderly, students \u2014 who studies have found are\u00a0less likely<\/a>\u00a0to have the necessary IDs.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0statement on its website<\/a>, the North Carolina State Board of Elections said the photo ID law will be implemented by the September primary for this year\u2019s local elections.<\/p>\n

“The State Board is working with the 100 county boards of elections to ensure a smooth rollout of the photo ID requirement,” it said. “This includes informing voters about the change and the acceptable forms of identification for voting, ensuring any voter without an ID can get one, training the county boards on implementation measures, updating forms and envelopes for absentee voting, creating and printing new signage for polling places, and many other efforts.”<\/p>\n

The voter ID requirement will go through additional refinement in the rule-making process, but the law outlines the following forms of ID that will be acceptable for voting, as long as they haven’t been expired for more than a year:<\/p>\n