For many, this year's primaries will be the first election in which they'll be asked to provide a photo ID.
When you show up to vote, poll workers will be looking for three things: To confirm your name, confirm your address and now, a photo ID.
Nelson Masinde, a training specialist with the State Board of Elections, has been traveling across the state to educate voters on the ID requirement. Earlier this week he was in Carteret County, and last night he stopped by New Bern. He said poll workers will be looking to see if the photo matches the voter. He added they'll be generous with that assessment.
"They're looking to qualify you," he said, adding poll workers will consider common life changes like aging and weight changes when evaluating. "Effects from aging is perhaps the most common one. Medical conditions or treatments, the effects from that may be visible, but again, it doesn't disqualify you."
For most, a driver's license or passport is good enough, so long as it hasn't been expired for more than a year. For others, an approved student ID or military or veterans ID will also work. Some employer IDs, too, can be accepted. A complete list of acceptable IDs is available online at the State Board of Elections website.
Even if you don't have an ID listed above, there are still ways to vote. Voters can receive a free voter ID card at their county board of elections office that will last 10 years and provisional ballots that can be "cured" or addressed later by the voter at a local elections office.
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These primaries are the first statewide elections with the voter ID requirement. For some counties, it'll be their first; for others, they've already hosted an election with voter ID with the November's municipal elections.
Voter advocacy organizations watched those elections closely how counties implemented the new voter ID law.
A report from Democracy North Carolina found there were inconsistent applications of that law across counties. For example, if a voter does not have an ID and has a "reasonable impediment," they can choose to case a provisional ballot and fill out a Voter ID Exception Form at the polling location. "Reasonable impediments" include a lack of transportation, waiting on an ID in the mail, or even a lost/stolen ID.
But, as Carol Moreno Cifuentes, a researcher on the Democracy NC report, says some voters were not given that option.
"Instead, they were told to cast a provisional ballot and come back to the county board of elections and they should have had the option of completing that exception form," Cifuentes said.
Cifuentes says voters who cast a provisional ballot don't often return to the board of elections office due to strict work schedules, caregiving responsibilities or a lack of transportation.
At a voter ID education seminar last night in New Bern, Masinde confirmed that poll workers are supposed to ask voters if they'd like to fill out an exception form.
While the number of people impacted in November was small and mostly examined Central N.C., it did expose some complications ahead of this year's elections.
The report found that some members of county elections boards did adhere to state guidance when reviewing exception forms. Cifuentes says they're supposed to evaluate the voter's excuse on whether the exception listed is true, not that it is sufficient enough.
For example, a member cannot dismiss an exception because the voter's reason of "lack of transportation" wasn't good enough in their eyes. The State Board of Elections provides a list of reasonable impediments on their website.
Cifuentes says some of the complications can be remediated through poll worker training and voter education. She added that her organization is also monitoring this election and will provide updates.
