Voting in North Carolina

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The policies governing voter participation are enacted and enforced primarily at the state level. These policies, which include voter identification requirements, early voting provisions, online voter registration systems, and more, dictate the conditions under which people cast their ballots in their respective states.

This article includes the following information about voting policies in North Carolina:

See Election administration in North Carolina for more additional information about election administration in the state, including voter list maintenance policies, provisional ballot rules, and post-election auditing practices.

Do you have questions about your elections? Looking for information about your local election official? Click here to use U.S. Vote Foundation’s election official lookup tool.

Voter registration

Eligibility and registration details

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in North Carolina, each applicant must be a United States citizen and a resident of the county in which they are registering to vote for at least 30 days before the election. Applicants must be at least 18 years old by the time of the election. [1][2] The North Carolina voter registration application is available online. Voter registration applications must be received by the county board of elections at least 25 days before the election. Voter registration services are also provided by the following agencies:[1]

  • North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles
  • Departments of Social Services (DSS)
  • Departments of Public Health (WIC)
  • Vocational rehabilitation offices
  • Departments of Services for the Blind
  • Departments of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • Departments of Mental Health Services
  • Employment Security Commission (ESC)


In-person voting

Poll times

See also: State poll opening and closing 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.[3]

Voter identification

See also: Voter identification laws by state

North Carolina requires voters to present photo ID when voting.[4]

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.[4]

The following documents were acceptable forms of identification as of May 2023:[5]

  • IDs that must be valid and unexpired, or expired for less than a year:
    • NC driver's license
    • Driver's license from another state (only accepted if voter registered with 90 days of the election)
    • Nonoperators ID card
    • U. S. passport
    • NC voter photo ID card
    • Student ID card issued by an eligible NC university or community college
    • Employee ID card issued by a state or local government entity (including schools)
  • U.S. military ID card
  • U.S. Veterans ID card issued
  • Tribal enrollment card issued by a state or federally recognized tribe.
  • Public assistance ID card issued by a U.S. department, agency, or entity

Early voting

See also: Early voting

North Carolina permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

Absentee/mail-in voting

See also: Absentee/mail-in voting

All voters are eligible to vote absentee in North Carolina. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee.[6]

An absentee ballot request form must either be submitted online or by mail before 5 p.m. on the Tuesday before Election Day. Completed ballots must be returned either in person or by mail and received no later than 7:30 p.m. on election day.[7][6][8]


Local election officials

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Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool.

Voting rules for people convicted of a felony

See also: Voting rights for convicted felons

In North Carolina, people convicted of a felony temporarily lose the right to vote. This right is automatically restored upon completion of their entire sentence, including prison, parole or probation, and restitution. Although it is not necessary, people convicted of a felony in North Carolina can obtain a Certificate of Restoration of Forfeited Rights of Citizenship to present as proof of completion of their sentence when re-registering to vote. Click here for more information on restoring citizenship rights in North Carolina.[9]

Voting rights for people convicted of a felony vary from state to state. In the majority of states, people convicted of a felony cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[10]


Election agencies

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See also: State election agencies

Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in North Carolina can contact the following state and federal agencies.

North Carolina State Board of Elections

Office address: 430 N Salisbury St, Third Floor
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603
Mailing address: PO Box 27255
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-7255
Main phone number: 919-814-0700
Toll-free: 866-522-4723
Fax: 919-715-0135
Website: http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
Email: elections.sboe@ncsbe.gov

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: 301-563-3919
Toll free: 1-866-747-1471

Noteworthy events

Voter ID requirements (2019-2023)

Background: On November 6, 2018, North Carolinians approved a state constitutional amendment establishing a photo identification requirement for voters. The state legislature, with Republican majorities in both chambers, approved implementing legislation (SB 824) in December of that year, overriding Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto. SB 824 was subject to several lawsuits, major developments in which are detailed below.

Current status of the law: Photo ID is required to vote in North Carolina.

State court actions: "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," according to the state board of elections.[4]

On December 16, 2022, Justices Anita Earls, Sam Ervin IV, Robin Hudson, and Michael R. Morgan, of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, struck down North Carolina's voter identification law S.B. 824.[11][12]

Shortly after SB 824 was enacted in 2019, the law's opponents filed suit in the Wake County Superior Court, seeking an injunction to prevent it from being enforced. On July 19, 2019, the court ruled that the plaintiffs had "made sufficient factual allegations to support" their claims. However, the motion for an injunction was declined. The plaintiffs appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which, on February 18, 2020, found that they "had shown a clear likelihood of success on the merits of their discriminatory-intent claim" and instructed the lower court to grant the plaintiffs' motion for an injunction. The lower court did so and heard oral arguments on the merits in April 2021.[13]

On September 17, 2021, a three-judge panel of the Wake County Superior Court ruled 2-1 in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that "the evidence at trial [is] sufficient to show that the enactment of S.B. 824 was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American voters." The court also ruled that "[o]ther, less restrictive voter ID laws would have sufficed to achieve the legitimate nonracial purposes of implementing the constitutional amendment requiring voter ID, deterring fraud, or enhancing voter confident." The court, therefore, permanently enjoined the enforcement of the law.[14][15]

Federal court actions: On December 21, 2019, Judge Loretta Biggs, of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, also enjoined North Carolina officials from enforcing the state's voter identification law. However, this was not a final ruling. Biggs' order prevented election officials from enforcing voter identification requirements pending resolution of the case.[16][17]

On December 2, 2020, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously reversed the district court's decision, upholding the legality of the voter ID law. Judge Julius Richardson, wrote the following in the court's opinion:[18]

“ We do not doubt ... that there is a long and shameful history of race-based voter suppression in North Carolina. But we made clear in McCrory that our holding did not 'freeze North Carolina election law in place.' The district court failed to adhere to our admonishment and the Supreme Court’s unmistakable commands in Abbott. Instead, it considered the North Carolina General Assembly’s past conduct to bear so heavily on its later acts that it was virtually impossible for it to pass a voter-ID law that meets constitutional muster. In doing so, the district court improperly reversed the burden of proof and disregarded the presumption of legislative good faith. And the remaining evidence in the record fails to meet the Challengers’ burden. For these reasons, the district court abused its discretion in issuing the preliminary injunction.[19] ”

Voter residency requirements (2018)

On August 8, 2018, Judge Loretta Copeland Biggs, of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, invalidated a state statute permitting one voter to challenge the residency status of another, finding that the statute contravened the National Voter Registration Act. The case was initiated by the NAACP and others, who alleged that the practice disproportionately targeted black voters. Leah Kang, an attorney for the plaintiffs, praised Biggs' ruling: "By purging dozens and sometimes of hundreds of voters at a time based on returned postcards, the state was disenfranchising eligible voters and violating federal law. This ruling ensures an end to this illegal practice." Jay Delancy, North Carolina's director for the Voter Integrity Project, whose volunteers initiated the residency challenges in question in an attempt to reduce the probability of voter fraud, said, "We followed North Carolina law scrupulously in filing more than 6,000 individualized voter challenges in 2016 and the local election boards acted properly in sustaining those challenges."[20][21]


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See also

Elections in North Carolina


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, “Registering to Vote,” accessed May 1, 2023
  2. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, “Who Can Register,” accessed May 1, 2023
  3. ↑ Justia, "NC Gen Stat § 163-166.01 (2022) Hours for voting," accessed May 1, 2023
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Voter ID," accessed May 1, 2023
  5. ↑ Justia, “NC Gen Stat § 163-166.16 (2022),” accessed May 1, 2023
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Vote By Mail," accessed January 4, 2023
  7. ↑ Ballotpedia’s Legislation Tracker, "North Carolina S747," accessed January 4, 2024
  8. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "FAQ: Voting By Mail," accessed May 1, 2023
  9. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Registering as a Person in the Criminal Justice System," accessed May 1, 2023
  10. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," April 6, 2023
  11. ↑ WRAL News, "NC Supreme Court strikes down state Senate map, voter ID law. Republican lawmakers plan to revisit both issues next year," December 16, 2022
  12. ↑ Supreme Court of North Carolina, "HOLMES V. MOORE 2022-NCSC-122," accessed December 19, 2022
  13. ↑ Jurist, "Federal appeals court reverses injunction on North Carolina voter ID law," Dec. 3, 2020
  14. ↑ Wake County Superior Court, "Holmes v. Moore: Final Judgment and Order," September 17, 2021
  15. ↑ WRAL.com, "State court boots NC's voter ID law, again," September 17, 2021
  16. ↑ United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, "North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. Cooper: Memorandum Opinion, Order, and Preliminary Injunction," December 31, 2019
  17. ↑ ABC News 11, "NC judge formally strikes down voter ID law," December 31, 2019
  18. ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, "North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. Raymond: Order," December 2, 2020
  19. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  20. ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "US judge voids part of North Carolina election law," August 8, 2018
  21. ↑ WRAL.com, "US judge voids part of North Carolina election law," August 8, 2018
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