Digital ID can be used to vote, North Carolina court decides

RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — A North Carolina superior court judge upheld the use of digital identification to vote Thursday afternoon, dismissing a request by Republicans to prevent digital student and faculty IDs for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from being used as valid photo ID at the polls.

In his bench ruling, Wake Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory said that state voting law doesn’t bar digital IDs, despite Republican insistence that it doesn’t allow for anything that isn’t a tangible, physical item.

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party sued last week to try to block the state board of elections from allowing a digital form of identification to be used at the polls, or to prevent the board from training poll workers on how to accept the ID. They argued that allowing digital ID could allow ineligible voters to vote in the crucial upcoming general elections.

William Elias Boyle, attorney for the Republicans, said in court Thursday that UNC-Chapel Hill students are required to present a valid photo ID to the university to receive their digital ID credential, and students should therefore all already have physical forms of ID to vote with.

Boyle used an example of a student who left his passport in Texas, and isn’t able to easily get it to use it to vote.

“He has a passport. He just doesn’t want to use it, basically, because it’s in Texas. So he’s registered to vote here and it’s inconvenient for him to get his passport from Texas," Boyle said. " Well, that’s not an unreasonable burden to ask him to simply follow the law and present valid ID.”

Gregory seemed skeptical that allowing the ID to proceed would result in voting fraud or allow ineligible voters to vote.

“Am I willing to put UNC students in the same box with convicted felons who can’t vote?” he said. “Am I willing to say that these students at UNC and these employers came to the university with the intention of committing fraud in the voting booth?”

Mary Carla Babb, legal counsel for the state board of elections, said that state law doesn’t specify that a photo ID must be physical, and that drivers licenses from other states, including states who issue digital IDs, are also considered valid.

“It’s very clear in the language that the General Assembly intended this to be a broad, wide law,” she said. “Nowhere in there does it say this has to be a tangible identification card.”

She also argued that the photo ID being digital does not make it more susceptible to fraud than using a physical ID, despite Boyle bringing a witness to court who said he had successfully manipulated UNC-Chapel Hill’s student ID to change the photo attached.

Voters must be registered in North Carolina to cast a ballot, and voters who are not registered to vote in North Carolina are not able to vote, regardless of the photo ID they produce.

“In no way do they allow unregistered voters to vote,” she said. “And there’s nothing here to support the notion that unqualified voters can … manufacture and make a fake Mobile One card any better than I can do a physical card.”

The digital ID, called a mobile One Card by the university, is a credential that uses similar technology as the chips used in credit and debit cards.

The university transitioned to the digital ID, which students and staff use to access campus buildings and make purchases, in 2023, and only issues physical identification on a case-by-case basis. Students are not incentivized to carry around a physical student ID, as they no longer work once their digital ID has been activated.

“The statutory criteria were met here,” said Babb. “The state board did its duty and approved these cards, and that’s the end of the story, Your Honor.”

The state board of elections authorized the use of the digital IDs for the university students and faulty in a 3-2 vote at the end of August.

The court’s decision impacts the university’s over 32,000 students and nearly 13,000 faculty members.

Boyle did not answer if Republicans plan to appeal the issue, and said he would have to consult with his clients.

The ruling comes a month in advance of early voting, which begins in North Carolina on October 17. Absentee ballots will begin being mailed Friday.

Voter photo ID is still in its infancy in North Carolina. It was passed by the general assembly in 2018, but remained in limbo for several years because of legal challenges, and first went into effect in municipal elections in 2023.

Voting rights organizations have said that they believe it causes confusion and serves as an anti-voter measure, while politicians say they have enacted one of the most permissive voter ID requirements in the nation, that allows voters to fill out an exemption form and submit a ballot if they don’t have ID.

North Carolina is also scheduled to introduce supplemental digital drivers licenses in 2025, which will be the legal equivalent of a physical license.

The challenge is one of many that Republicans have filed against the elections board as the general election draws near. In the past few weeks, they have sued over the counting of absentee ballots and claimed that the board is not removing non-citizens from voter rolls.

They also successfully won a case forcing the state to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the ballots, which upset the absentee mailing timeline and resulted in millions of ballots being destroyed and reprinted.

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