Hooray! After we sent our petition to UNC administrators yesterday, we received great news: they implemented a plan to print physical One Cards at no cost to students, faculty and staff.
UPDATE: MOBILE ONE CARDS CANNOT BE USED AS VOTER ID! LEARN MORE IN OUR UPDATE HERE.
UNC Chapel Hill has added the following language to the top of the UNC One Card page: “Students and employees who need a physical One Card to serve as a voter ID may request one at the One Card Office. A physical One Card, without the chip technology of the standard One Card, is available at no cost for any faculty, staff or student who only obtained the mobile One Card.”
This is great news. Any student, faculty member, or staff member at UNC may go to the physical One Card office on the 3rd floor of the Student Stores Building (at 207 South Road) and request a physical One Card to use as voter ID.
This is a testament to your hard work! We want to thank the Affirmative Action Coalition, a registered UNC student organization made up of UNC students, for helping get the word out.
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How you can help
And now the hard work begins: It’s time to spread the word, and tell every student, faculty member, and staff member at UNC Chapel Hill that they can obtain a free physical One Card to use as a voter ID in the 2024 election cycle. Please share this piece with your neighbors, friends, and classmates.
UNC Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff may also use a North Carolina driver’s license, a state ID, the NC Voter Photo ID card, a passport and any other state-issued ID to vote. Any out-of-state student can use an out-of-state license if they have registered to vote locally after August 5. You can see all accepted forms of voter ID here.
What’s next:
It is still possible that mobile One Cards will remain an acceptable form of Voter ID, but we’re glad UNC Chapel Hill is being proactive about this—because there’s not much time between now and early voting which starts on October 17.
You can see all documents filed in the lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee vs. North Carolina State Board of Elections here.
Update 9/19: A judge in Wake County has rejected the request from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and North Carolina Republican Party to prohibit University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill students and employees from using a digital form of in-person voter identification. But we fully expect the RNC to appeal so please get a physical One Card so you have a backup just in case.
Update: 9/20: The RNC has appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, which randomly assigns cases to three judges. (11 are Republicans; 4 are Democrats.) We have also gotten reports of UNC students having difficulty at the One Card office obtaining a Voter ID. If you have difficulty or would like to share a tip, please email [email protected]
Our previous coverage:
Affirmative Action Coalition files motion to protect voting rights for students at UNC
State Elections Board approves UNC Digital OneCard as voting ID
Alert: State Board of Elections to decide Tuesday on UNC student voter IDs