Despite the full provisions of the 2013 voter ID law coming into effect this year, voting could be as simple as showing up to the polls.
In the summer of 2015, the N.C. General Assembly passed a bill allowing for a "reasonable impediment" exception to the Voter ID Law.
This allows voters to submit a provisional ballot stating why they do not have a valid form of photo identification and write in their birth date and last four digits of their Social Security number. Voters can also use any government document showing their name and address.
This is a necessary protective measure for students without a valid form of photo identification, said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy N.C.
“This safety net is valuable for college students who are from out of state," he said. "They don’t need to surrender their driver’s license from out of state in order to vote here."
Irving Joyner, a law professor at N.C. Central University, said this provision will help the small group of voters who do not have proper photo identification, but not enough voters know about it yet.
“The problem that presents itself is that the Board of Elections has not really informed citizens about the reasonable impediment exception nor have those people who will be working at the polls been trained about those exceptions and how they should be applied,” Joyner said.
Voter turnout in the 2014 midterm elections in North Carolina was 44.4 percent out of the 6.6 million registered voters — a particularly low percentage.
Hall said even the smallest numbers can make a difference in North Carolina elections.