• Campus
    • Campus
    • Student Life
    • Administration
    • Faculty
    • Higher Education
  • City & County
    • City & County
    • Chapel Hill
    • Carrboro
    • Education
    • Public Safety
  • Politics
    • Politics
    • North Carolina
    • National
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • Football
    • Men's Basketball
    • Women's Basketball
    • Cross Country
    • Golf
    • Men's Soccer
    • Women's Soccer
    • Swimming and Diving
    • Men's Tennis
    • Women's Tennis
    • Field Hockey
    • Rowing
    • Volleyball
  • Culture
    • Culture
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Food
  • Opinion
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Cartoons
    • Columns
    • Letters
    • Kvetching Board
  • Multimedia
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Galleries
    • Audio
  • About
    • About
    • Hiring
    • Board of Directors
    • Alumni
    • Corrections
    • Contact
    • Meet the editors
    • Policies & Bylaws
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Events Calendar
    • Celebrations
    • Obituaries
  • Donate
  • Story Collections

  • HeelsHousing
  • Offline Chapel Hill
  • Shop
  • Buy Photos
  • 1893 Brand Studio
  • Alumni
  • Events Calendar
  • Celebrations/Obits
    • Celebrations
    • Obituaries
  • Southern Neighbor
  • Newsletter
  • Classifieds
  • Campus
  • City & County
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Donate
  • HeelsHousing
  • Search
The Daily Tar Heel

Serving the students and the University community since 1893.

The Daily Tar Heel
    • Campus
      • Campus
      • Student Life
      • Administration
      • Faculty
      • Higher Education
    • City & County
      • City & County
      • Chapel Hill
      • Carrboro
      • Education
      • Public Safety
    • Politics
      • Politics
      • North Carolina
      • National
    • Sports
      • Sports
      • Football
      • Men's Basketball
      • Women's Basketball
      • Cross Country
      • Golf
      • Men's Soccer
      • Women's Soccer
      • Swimming and Diving
      • Men's Tennis
      • Women's Tennis
      • Field Hockey
      • Rowing
      • Volleyball
    • Culture
      • Culture
      • Arts & Entertainment
      • Food
    • Opinion
      • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Cartoons
      • Columns
      • Letters
      • Kvetching Board
    • Multimedia
      • Multimedia
      • Video
      • Galleries
      • Audio
    • About
      • About
      • Hiring
      • Board of Directors
      • Alumni
      • Corrections
      • Contact
      • Meet the editors
      • Policies & Bylaws
    • Advertise
      • Advertise
      • Policies
      • Events Calendar
      • Celebrations
      • Obituaries
    • Donate
    • Story Collections

    • HeelsHousing
    • Offline Chapel Hill
    • Shop
    • Buy Photos
    • 1893 Brand Studio
    • Alumni
    • Events Calendar
    • Celebrations/Obits
      • Celebrations
      • Obituaries
    • Southern Neighbor
    • Newsletter
    • Classifieds
  • In the News
  • The OC Report
  • Men's basketball
  • Football
  • Crime and public safety
  • Business

10/24/2019, 8:54pm

Your One Card could work as your voter ID — if UNC makes the deadline

Your One Card could work as your voter ID — if UNC makes the deadline Buy Photos

A student picks up a voting sticker after casting their vote at the Chapel of the Cross church at 304 E. Franklin Street on Oct. 23, 2018. The Chapel of the Cross serves as an early voter location close to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus. 

Janet Ayala

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Mail
  • Print
BY Addison Skigen

In recent years, UNC students have been presented with many opportunities for political involvement. In 2019 alone, presidential candidates Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders visited campus to promote their campaigns. 

However, some UNC voters may be put in a difficult situation during next year’s elections. 

Last year, voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote in person. This could pose a problem for students who do not have a federally mandated driver's license or passport. 

This past June, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 646. The bill outlines the criteria student and employee IDs for the UNC System must meet in order to qualify as legitimate voter identification. For UNC One Cards, this means the University must submit an approval form to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

The deadline for UNC to complete and submit the form is Nov. 15.


Editors Picks

A decade of activism: How social justice movements have continued at UNC in the 2010s


Bars became a safe place during a decade of change for the N.C. LGBTQ+ community


After a decade of tuition increases, the General Assembly wrestles with affordability



“If UNC misses that deadline, its students will not be able to use their valid One Cards to vote in the 2020 elections," Alana Edwards, president of UNC Young Democrats, said. 

Should UNC choose to submit the form, it must be signed by either the chancellor, president or registrar and filed with sample images of all identification cards. 

"The University is committed to supporting the ability of our students, faculty and staff to exercise their constitutional right to vote," according to a statement from UNC Media Relations. "We're working closely with the University System and the State Board of Elections to meet the November 15 deadline and we remain hopeful that our One Cards will be able to be used as voting identification."

Ariel Freedman, the undergraduate director of State and External Affairs for UNC Student Government, said the University was first presented the opportunity to register One Cards as voter IDs last semester. Student government worked with the One Card office to advocate for the necessity of the process and determine if One Cards would be able to qualify, Freedman said.

"Unfortunately, UNC could not apply because the picture upload system for One Cards was not standardized," Freedman said in an email.

Seventeen schools within the UNC System applied, Freedman said, and only five were approved.

“We were able to meet with Representative Russell, one of the co-sponsors of HB 646, who told us he was working to expand the measures that allow student IDs to be used as a voter ID,” Freedman said. 

Despite the loosening of these requirements, the form the University must complete maintains certain demands in an effort to ensure that student identification cards are valid IDs. 

The form now states that if the picture on the ID was not produced by the institution listed, it is up to that institution to be able to “certify in detail the process used by the university or college to ensure the photograph is that of the student to whom the identification card is issued.” 

In addition, One Cards must be issued after enrollment and be backed by one or more methods of confirming the student’s identity, such as their social security number, citizenship status or birthdate.

“If student One Cards aren’t considered valid voter IDs, I think that would be an unnecessary barrier to the ballot box and could potentially suppress student turnout,” Edwards said.

In order to participate in same-day registration at one-stop early voting, students currently must provide a form of identification showing their name and address. 

“Students already have to overcome several barriers in order to participate in elections,” Freedman said. “UNC-Chapel Hill students deserve to have their voices heard in every election.”

@askigenreports

university@dailytarheel.com


Next up in Young Democrats

  • SPONSORED Takeout Central's delivery heroes serve local Tar Heels, battle corporate foes


Next up in

  • Student Government hosts workshop featuring professional lobbyists and state senator

  • Mental Health Monday addresses body positivity during the holiday season

  • Undergraduate Senate heard from Chancellor, debated length of meetings on Tuesday


Next up in Student Government

  • Student Government hosts workshop featuring professional lobbyists and state senator

  • Mental Health Monday addresses body positivity during the holiday season

  • Undergraduate Senate heard from Chancellor, debated length of meetings on Tuesday


Next up in Student Life

  • Student Government hosts workshop featuring professional lobbyists and state senator

  • 'It’s totally surreal': UNC's fourth astronaut graduate recalls her path to NASA

  • From holiday gifts to clothing lines: How UNC students use BeAM makerspaces


Next up in Campus

  • Police presence, settlement plan and UNC donations brought up at Silent Sam rally

  • The 2010s: the decade that changed everything

  • The athletic-academic scandal: How an NCAA investigation impacted the University


The Daily Tar Heel welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic.

Latest Print Edition

Print Edition Print Archive

Decade in Review

Special Print Edition

Start the Presses!

Thank you for reading! You are someone who appreciates independent student journalism, support that work with your tax-deductible donation today!

Donate Now!
    • Front Page
    • Campus
    • City & County
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • Donate
    • HeelsHousing
Daily Tar Heel To Homepage
109 E. Franklin St. Suite 210, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Shop
  • Buy Photos
  • 1893 Brand Studio
  • Alumni
  • Events Calendar
  • Celebrations/Obituaries
  • Southern Neighbor
  • Offline Chapel Hill
  • Newsletter
  • RSS
  • Classifieds

All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2019 The Daily Tar Heel

Powered by Solutions by The State News.

A Century of Champions

The perfect gift for the UNC fan in your life. Celebrate UNC basketball's years of success with "A Century of Champions," a keepsake poster from The Daily Tar Heel and 1893 Brand Studio.

Buy Now