Can I Vote in North Carolina Using My Student ID?
Credit: Image Credit: Sean Rayford / Stringer / Getty Images News- North Carolina is one of 37 states with voter ID requirements and one of 20 that accepts some form of a college student ID.
- You can request an ID exception form and provisional ballot to vote if you don’t have an approved student ID.
- You can also get a free valid voter ID from a local North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles office.
- The North Carolina State Board of Elections in August announced that student IDs from Duke University, Catawba College, Chowan University, and several community colleges will be accepted to vote.
To vote in this year’s general election in North Carolina, you have to show your ID at the polls. If you’re a student at one of 68 community colleges and four-year colleges and universities, you can use your college student ID to vote.
North Carolina implemented a voter ID requirement in spring 2023 and called for public and private education institutions to apply to have their IDs approved for voting. The North Carolina State Board of Elections initially approved 99 student and public employee IDs and just added nine more schools’ IDs on Aug. 14.
The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill’s Mobile UNC One Card was the first mobile student ID the Board of Election approved for voting. The Republican National Committee and the state’s Republican Party filed a lawsuit Sept. 12, saying that the state’s voter ID law required physical ID. However, Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory refused to block students from using the mobile IDs a week later.
“Where does it say they can’t use these cards? It doesn’t,” Gregory said in NC Newsline. “If I’m wrong, that’s why we have the appellate courts.”
One of the newest universities to join the list is UNC Chapel Hill’s basketball rival, Duke University. Previously, Duke students could only use a “Student Voter ID Card,” but the state just approved students’ Duke Cards.
All the approved school IDs include photos and must not be expired. If your college isn’t included on this list, you have two options:
- Fill out an ID exception form and vote using a provisional ballot
- Get a free photo ID to use at the polls from a North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles office
“This new process should not discourage or prevent any eligible individual from voting and having their ballot counted,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state’s Board of Elections, in a July press release. “The state board and county boards of elections are here to assist any voter who needs an ID or has questions about this law.”
North Carolina College and University IDs Approved for Voting
- Alamance Community College: Includes Alamance-Burlington Early College Students
- Appalachian State University
- Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
- Beaufort County Community College
- Bennett College
- Brevard College
- Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute
- Campbell University: Student Voter ID Card
- Cape Fear Community College
- Catawba College: Catawba One Card
- Chowan University: HawksCard
- Cleveland Community College
- College of the Albemarle
- Davidson College: CatCard and Student Voter Photo ID
- Duke University: Duke Card or Duke Student Voter ID Card
- Durham Technical Community College
- East Carolina University
- Edgecombe Community College
- Elizabeth City State University
- Elon University
- Fayetteville State University
- Guilford College
- Halifax Community College
- Haywood Community College
- Isothermal Community College: Includes REaCH Student Early College ID
- James Sprunt Community College
- Johnson C. Smith University
- Lees-McRae College
- Lenoir-Rhyne University
- Livingstone College
- Mars Hills University
- Mayland Community College
- McDowell Technical Community College
- Meredith College
- Methodist University
- Mid-Atlantic Christian University
- N.C. Agricultural & Technical University
- North Carolina Central University
- North Carolina State University
- Pfeiffer University
- Piedmont Community College
- Pitt Community College
- Queens University of Charlotte
- Roanoke-Chowan Community College
- Robeson Community College: Includes Early College Student ID
- Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
- Saint Augustine’s College
- Sandhills Community College: Includes Sandhoke Early College Student ID
- Shaw University
- Southwestern Community College
- St. Andrews University
- University of North Carolina Asheville
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Physical ID Card
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro
- University of North Carolina at Pembroke
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- University of North Carolina Wilmington
- Wake Forest University: Deacon OneCard and Student Voter Identification Card
- Wake Technical Community College
- Warren Wilson College
- Wayne Community College: Includes Early/Middle College Student ID
- Western Carolina University
- Western Piedmont Community College
- Wilkes Community College
- Wilson Community College
- Wingate University
- Winston-Salem State University