The State Board of Elections of North Carolina has deemed a mobile phone identity as permissible under the state’s voter ID Act.
In court on Thursday, the state and national Republican organizations affirmed that it is not.
On seven occasions within a span of 52 days, the five-member nonpartisan state body and its executive director responsible for overseeing the elections have faced legal action. Once again, the North Carolina Republican Party and the Republican National Convention, under the leadership of the former chairman of the state party, are taking the offensive position as plaintiffs.
In a 3-2 decision, the state board granted approval to the Mobile UNC One Card, which is now in use on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus, three weeks ago. Students and staff with Apple phones are not required to use the service.
Litigants argue that state law only permits identification in physical form. Options include military or veterans photo ID card issued by the U.S. government; ID card with photo issued by the U.S. or North Carolina government for a public assistance program; tribal enrollment card with photo issued by a tribe recognized by the state or federal government, which include the Cherokee-Eastern Band, Coharie, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi-Saponi, Sappony and Waccamaw Siouan.
Furthermore, there are 95 organizations that possess authorized student or government-employee picture identification cards, or both.
The challenge alleges that the board made a mistake by broadening the parameters of an authorized student identity card from a physical, tangible item to something exclusively available on a computer system.
The development of digital objects, including those generated by artificial intelligence, has been a topic of numerous surveys during this election cycle. According to a national survey conducted by Elon University in May, over 75% of Americans express concerns about the potential impact of artificial intelligence abuses on the 2024 presidential election. Furthermore, a significant number of respondents lack confidence in their ability to identify fabricated images, videos, or sounds.
The defendants consist of the entire board, each member in their respective board roles, and Bell. The composition of the board comprises Democrats Alan Hirsch, who serves as its chairman, together with Jeff Carmon and Siobhan Millen, and Republicans Stacy Eggers and Kevin Lewis.
Since July 22, the state board has faced legal action due to rulings concerning ballot access in cases involving the Justice For All Party and the We The People Party, voter roll maintenance on two occasions, freedom of speech in the case of John F. Kennedy Jr., and a legal memorandum instructing county boards of elections that contradicts state laws regarding absentee ballots.
