NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina colleges and university students may be able to use their IDs to vote.
The state board of elections is inviting schools to apply to have their student ID cards accepted at the polls. Those IDs much have the student’s photo on them.
Schools have until June 28 to apply.
This will be the first year voter identification is required in North Carolina.
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In April, the state’s supreme court threw out the previous rulings that said the redistricting maps and voter ID law passed by the Republican legislature were both illegal.
The move reversed a trial court decision that struck down the 2018 law. The trial court had ruled that GOP legislators passed the law in part to retain General Assembly control by discouraging Black Democrats from voting in legislative elections. But Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote, in part, that the trial judges erred in relying on a federal court ruling striking down a 2013 voter ID law as tainted by racial discrimination.
Although a federal lawsuit challenging the voter ID law is still pending, the State Board of Elections said that staff would start working toward “a smooth rollout” of the ID requirement with municipal elections this fall.
Voters also previously approved a separate photo voter ID mandate for the state constitution, although that amendment remains stuck in litigation that wouldn’t affect the April ruling.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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