99 student and employee IDs approved for voting. Here’s the list

Ninety-nine types of student and government IDs have been approved by the State Board of Elections to be used for voting in compliance with the state’s new voter ID requirement.

“We are grateful to all institutions that applied to have their identification cards approved for voters for the 2023 municipal elections,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a press release. “This gives voters additional options when casting their ballot.”

Student IDs from all UNC System public universities were approved, as well as IDs from many private schools, including Duke University, Davidson College, Queens University of Charlotte, Shaw University, St. Augustine’s University and Meredith College.

Employee IDs from a variety of schools, government agencies and local governments have also been approved for voting.

The approved IDs will be valid for voting through Dec. 31, 2024.

The state allowed universities and government agencies to apply for approval shortly after the state Supreme Court reinstated North Carolina’s voter ID requirement in April. To be eligible, IDs had to have been issued after various methods of confirming the holder’s identity and had to include a photo and expiration date.

Six institutions were denied approval because their IDs lacked expiration dates. They will be able to apply again before the 2024 elections. Five of the denials were for employee IDs, including Buncombe County Schools and Durham Technical Community College, while Johnson & Wales University Charlotte had a student ID denied. Durham Tech’s student ID was approved.

Starting in the 2023 municipal elections, all voters will have to show ID to cast their ballot. Anyone voting by mail will have to include a photocopy of an acceptable ID.

In addition to these newly approved IDs, voters will also be able to use a driver’s license, passport or a free photo ID card from their county board of elections.

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This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 4:41 PM.

Kyle Ingram

The News & Observer

Kyle Ingram is the Democracy Reporter for the News & Observer. He reports on voting rights, election administration, the state judicial branch and more. He is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC-Chapel Hill.