NORTH CAROLINA ELECTIONS BOARD OKS UNIVERSITY ID ON PHONES FOR VOTER ACCESS THIS FALL

The North Carolina elections board this week approved the first digital identification that can be used to meet state voter ID requirements, signing off on mobile credentials offered to students and employees at the state's flagship public university.

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The Democratic-controlled State Board of Elections voted 3-2 along party lines to sign off on the credentials. It declared that showing the Mobile UNC One Card generated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was a way registered voters could meet the state's relatively new photo voter ID mandate.

The voter ID law sets several categories of qualifying identifications, such as North Carolina driver's licenses, U.S. passports and some free ID cards. The state board also accepts applications from public and private universities, local government entities and others that want their IDs to qualify. While the board has OK'd over 130 traditional student and employee IDs as qualifying for voting purposes in 2024, Tuesday's vote marks the qualification of the first such ID posted from someone's smartphone.

The state Republican Party later criticized the approval and suggested a possible legal challenge ahead. Minor adjustments to ballot access could affect outcomes in several anticipated close statewide races this fall in North Carolina.

State law doesn't specifically define an "identification card." A board attorney told board members it was her reading that there's nothing in the law that specifically limits approval to printed cards.