Voting in North Carolina

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No excuse is needed to vote absentee in North Carolina.

North Carolina offers in-person early voting. No excuse is needed to vote early. Early voting begins on the second Thursday of the month before the election through the last Saturday before the election.

North Carolina has semi-closed primaries. Unless a recognized party chooses to have its primary open to unaffiliated voters, only voters registered with a particular party may vote in that party's primary. 17-year-olds can vote in the primary election if they will be 18 by the corresponding general election.

As of 2020, photo ID is required to vote in North Carolina. Valid forms of ID include:
- Driver License or Non‐Operator ID from North Carolina
- North Carolina Voter ID Card
- Driver License or Non‐Operator ID from Another State or Commonwealth, District of Columbia or U.S. Territory (ONLY if voter registered in North Carolina within 90 days of the election.)
- Tribal Enrollment Card issued by an approved state tribe as listed at voterID.NCSBE.gov or by a federal tribe (the latter may be expired or have no expiration date).
- Approved College/University Student ID (Must be approved by the State Board of Elections. No expiration date is required)
- Approved State or Local Government or Charter School Employee ID (Must be approved by the State Board of Elections. No expiration date is required.)
- Military ID Card or Veterans ID Card (May be expired or have no expiration date.)
- United States Passport (Includes U.S. Passport Card.)

All IDs must be valid and unexpired OR expired for one year or less. IDs may be expired if the voter is over the age of 65 and the ID was unexpired on their 65th birthday.

If you do not have an approved form of ID, you can obtain a free photo ID at your county board of elections office at any time the office is open, except for the period from the end of one-stop early voting through Election Day.

If you go to your polling place without an approved form of ID, you may vote provisionally. Your provisional ballot will count if you bring acceptable photo ID to your county board of elections office before canvass, or if you sign an affidavit declaring that a reasonable impediment prevented you from showing photo ID.