More than 70,000 voters will stay on North Carolina voter rolls after settlement

More than 73,000 North Carolinians will have more time to present their identification documents to election officials in order to remain on the state’s voter rolls following an agreement between the national parties and the state election board.

The agreement, which outlines the means by which the state will collect proof of identity required for the voter roll, was signed Monday by the Democratic and Republican parties and sent to the federal court for approval.

The Republican National Committee and the North Carolina GOP sued state election officials in 2024, alleging that a quarter of a million voters were improperly registered because their registrations did not include the last four digits of their Social Security number, driver’s license number or certification that they had neither.

Republicans have called for voter registrations to be removed and the ballots they cast to be thrown out in two lawsuits. The Democratic National Committee intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of state election officials.

“This latest victory is a victory for Americans and another blow to the Republicans’ plan to disenfranchise voters ahead of the midterm elections,” DNC Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement after the deal.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections, which said only about 100,000 voters lacked an identifier such as a driver’s license number last summer, began updating voter registrations last year. The board also sent letters to more than 82,000 voters asking them to update their registrations.

As of December 2025, approximately 73,000 voters did not yet have this information on file.

Under the terms of the agreement, these voters will remain registered to vote and their registrations will be updated when they vote. Under North Carolina law, voters must present identification when they vote, in which case election officials will update their registrations with the identification they use.

Any voters who do not present the requested identifier, usually a driver’s license number, when casting their ballot will be asked to cast a provisional ballot and show election officials other identifying documents to prove their identity.

North Carolina has been a very divided battleground state in recent elections. President Donald Trump won the state by about 183,000 votes in 2024 and by fewer than 75,000 votes in 2020.