North Carolina OKs Student Mobile ID for Voter Identification in Presidential Election

The North Carolina State Election Board (NCSBE) voted 3-2 to approve the use of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s digital ID for voting in the upcoming November 5 general election. The vote was divided along party lines, with Democratic members in favor and Republican members opposed.

Lindsey Wakely, the Deputy General Counsel for the NCSBE, emphasized that the Mobile UNC One Card, which students and employees can access through Apple Wallet, meets the statutory criteria for voter ID. The board had previously approved a printed version of the UNC One Card, but the introduction of a digital version has raised concerns.

Republican board member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV argued that the statute requires a physical identification card and that a digital ID stored on a mobile app does not meet this requirement. He expressed concerns about potential security issues and inconsistencies in the application of the law.

“This is a different process we’re doing here than simply giving my friend my football tickets when I download them from the website,” he said. “We’re talking about the requirements of the statute that there be an identification card, and in my reading of the statute, we simply don’t have the authority to do a mobile app in lieu of an identification card because that’s what this is.”

This is the first time a mobile ID has been approved for use in voting in North Carolina. The state’s voter ID law, passed in 2018 but only recently enacted, will be implemented in this election.

Sources: Washington Examiner, The Carolina Journal

–

August 21, 2024 – by the FindBiometrics Editorial Team