DURHAM, N.C. (May 26, 2026) — North Carolina law currently allows a voter who is unable to show a photo ID at the polls to fill out a form explaining why — such as it being lost or stolen or not yet obtained due to work, school, or family responsibilities, or illness — and still cast a ballot. The State Board of Elections is proposing a change to make it easier for officials to reject those forms and throw out the votes.
Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) filed public comments this week raising serious concerns about the proposal and urging the State Board to reject the change. Under current rules, a county board of elections must vote unanimously to reject a voter’s explanation.
Read the full public comments document here.
SCSJ’s public comments draw on years of monitoring how county boards of elections across the state have applied the voter photo ID law. The unanimity requirement has proven essential to ensuring equal treatment of voters across counties and protects the photo ID review process from real or perceived partisan gamesmanship. The proposed change would allow a simple majority — potentially along partisan lines — to reject these ballots instead.
“The unanimity requirement has repeatedly been the last line of defense between an eligible voter having their ballot counted and disenfranchisement,” said Hilary Harris Klein, Senior Counsel for Voting Rights at SCSJ. “There is no evidence the current rule has allowed a single fraudulent ballot to be counted. There is significant evidence that removing it will cause eligible voters to lose their voice.”
SCSJ is urging the State Board to retain the unanimity requirement, clarify that county boards may only consider whether a voter’s explanation is true or false, not whether they agree with it, and ensure voters receive adequate notice before their ballots are rejected.
Want to submit a public comment on this issue? Find resources on how to do that here.
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Southern Coalition for Social Justice, founded in 2007, partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the South to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing, and communications. Learn more at southerncoalition.org and follow our work on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.