CARTHAGE, N.C. — The next municipal elections in North Carolina are approaching this fall, and county boards of elections across the state are preparing.

Some have an extra task on their plate in testing the software and equipment for free photo voter IDs.

Back in April the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the law enacting voter ID would go into effect.

What You Need To Know

  •  The North Carolina Supreme Court's ruling means you'll need a photo ID to vote

  •  Some county boards of elections are testing software and equipment to create free IDs

  •  The goal is to provide for those who can't get a government ID for some reason

  • The State Board of Elections also approved dozens of other IDs for use

That means that voter ID requirements went into effect immediately.

Kari Skellington works for the Moore County Board of Elections and is testing the equipment there.

She’s been at the board for almost five years and was there when voter ID was previously in place in 2019.

Skellington says when she heard about the ruling, she went to work. Her first thought was about how to train poll workers.

“The second part was how we were going to adjust our precincts to work with photo ID, because there may be more provisional ballots that may need to be done with the exception forms. It's going to be a little bit of a slower process checking in because you have to show that ID,” Skellington said.

County boards are going to offer free photo IDs that can be used only to vote.

The goal is to provide an ID for those who can’t get a government-issued ID for some reason.

Once it’s all in place, if you’re registered to vote you can go to the board in your county, fill out paperwork and get your free ID.

Skellington is excited that she and Moore County are some of those testing the equipment, looking ahead to the upcoming elections.

“It gives us that opportunity to really test the waters, figure out what works, what doesn't work, how we're going to train our poll workers and then we're able to kind of give that advice to other counties since we've experienced a little bit more.”

It’s additional work, but Skellington says they all take pride in what they do, and the upcoming municipal elections provide a great chance to get through the first election requiring voter ID.

“Municipals tend to be smaller elections. So it gives our poll workers a chance to get comfortable with the process to prepare for the primary in the general next year because they are so much larger elections,” she said.

The state board also approved dozens of other forms of photo ID that can be used to vote. A link to that list is here.