Seminars being held regarding new voter ID law 

 

COLUMBUS—Polk County residents are invited to a voter identification seminar this Thursday to learn about North Carolina’s new voter identification law, which will be required beginning in the 2020 election.  

The Polk County Board of Elections will hold the educational seminar about voter photo identification requirements at 2 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 9 on the second floor of the Womack building in Columbus.  

The seminars are required by session law 2018-144 for each county board of elections to hold at least two voter identification seminars before Sept. 1, 2019. People who attend the seminars will receive information about voting options, including absentee-by-mail, one-stop early voting and Election Day voting.  

Information will also be provided regarding provisional voting, the availability of free North Carolina voter ID cards and residency requirements.  

The 2019 November election will be the municipal election, which will not require photo identification.  

A North Carolina referendum was passed by voters in the 2018 election requiring photo identification prior to voting, which will be required beginning in the 2020 presidential election.  

The new law states that beginning in 2020 North Carolina voters will be required to provide photo identification when voting in person or absentee by mail, with some exceptions.  

Beginning in 2020, persons who do not show photo ID will still be allowed to vote provisionally. The vote will be counted if the person without identification while voting brings an acceptable identification to the county board of elections prior to the official canvassing of votes or if the person signs an affidavit declaring that a reasonable impediment prevented them from enclosing a copy of the photo identification.  

People without photo identification can obtain a free photo identification at their county board of elections any time until the Friday before the election.  

Acceptable photo identifications for the 2020 election in North Carolina include a driver’s license or non-operator ID from North Carolina; a United State’s passport and a North Carolina voter ID card.  

For more information on the new law and more specifics regarding accepted forms of photo identification, people can visit www.ncsbe.gov/Voter-ID.  

For more information about Thursday’s seminars, people can contact the Polk County Board of Elections at 828-894-8181 or email Polk County Board of Elections Director Cliff Marr at cmarr@polknc.org.