North Carolina appeals court blocks use of university’s digital ID for voting

On Friday, an appeals court in North Carolina barred staff members and students at the state’s most prestigious public university from using a digital identity issued by the institution to vote in favor of a new picture ID requirement. The State Board of Elections’ ruling last month that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s mobile ID satisfied legal security and photo requirements and could be used was temporarily overturned by a three-judge panel of the intermediate-level Court of Appeals.

The Democratic-majority board’s ruling earlier this month was challenged in court by the Republican National Committee and the state Republican Party, who claimed that the statute only permitted the approval of physical ID cards. Judge Keith Gregory of the Superior Court last week denied a temporary restraining order to halt its use. The Republicans appealed.

The identities of the three judges who took into account the Republican petitions and unanimously directed the elections board to reject the use of the mobile UNC One Card for voting this autumn were not included in the Friday order. The judges’ names are later made public by the court. Out of the 15 judges on the court, 11 are Republicans by registration.

The judgment referenced a board letter that, among other things, forbids other images of physical IDs, such as those that are duplicated or photographed, from qualifying, but it did not provide the legal justification for granting the GOP’s petitions. The RNC and the North Carolina GOP’s attorneys stated in court filings that failing to temporarily prohibit the use of IDs would disrupt the November election’s current situation, in which only physical cards are allowed otherwise.

Refusing to temporarily block the use of IDs would upset the status quo for the November election, wherein only physical cards are accepted, according to court briefs from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the North Carolina GOP. This could lead to voters who aren’t eligible casting ballots using fraudulent electronic card manipulation.

The RNC and the NC GOP’s attorneys stated in court filings that if the IDs are not temporarily blocked from being used, the November election’s current system—which only accepts physical cards—will be upset, and it may lead to voters who are not eligible casting ballots by tampering with the electronic card. Matt Mercer, a GOP spokesman for North Carolina, stated that the decision made on Friday “will ensure election integrity and adherence to state law.”