In a Catawba College-YouGov survey of 1,000 North Carolinians conducted August 7 to 20, 2024, only 22 percent of North Carolinians correctly said that residents are allowed to cast a ballot if they do not have a photo ID. Nearly two-thirds (31.7 percent) were not sure.
Relatedly, more than 7 out of 10 North Carolinians were not sure if North Carolina allow voters to complete a "reasonable impediment form" if they don't have a photo identification at the time they cast a ballot. State law allows voters to complete such a form and cast a provisional ballot, if they return to the county board of elections office by the day before the county canvassing with a photo ID.
The Catawba-YouGov survey was administered for the independent cross-partisan Commission on the Future of North Carolina Elections about North Carolinians’ knowledge and awareness of election protections regarding the 2024 election and the administration of safe, secure, and fair elections in the state. The survey’s margin of error (adjusted for weights) is +/- 3.87 percent. This is the second release of the survey findings, with a future release focusing on North Carolinians’ opinions on election policies.
“It seems there is still a lot that voters don't know about photo ID. However, with several weeks to go before early voting and with so many organizations continuing to educate citizens, I am confident that most voters will come to the voting booth prepared,” said Jennifer Roberts, former Mayor of Charlotte and NC Elections Commission steering committee member.
With the current news regarding absentee by mail ballots, two questions were asked of North Carolinians about their awareness and knowledge of that vote method.
- A majority—53 percent—are not aware of a system that tracks the status of their mail-in ballots, along with receiving alerts notifying voters of various stages of where their mail-in ballot is in the election process.
- The N.C. State Board of Elections offers BallotTrax service (https://northcarolina.ballottrax.net/voter/) to track their mail-in ballot, from printing to acceptance.
- Nearly 58 percent of North Carolinians are not aware that the state prevents the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots.
- North Carolina Senate Bill 747, adopted in 2023, does not allow depositing an absentee by mail ballot “in a drop box or other location designated for the return of voted absentee ballots,” unlike other states that do allow drop boxes.
“What we may be seeing in North Carolina, when it comes to the use of drop boxes for example, is the nationalization of our news and our receptivity of that news,” said Michael Bitzer, Catawba College professor of politics and history and director of the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service. “A significant majority of poll respondents were not aware that North Carolina bans such devices to collect absentee by mail ballots, but when they hear of other states having drop boxes, they may automatically think that our state has them too. And that’s not the case, as with a lot of things in election administration: it’s 50 different systems to run elections.”
Another notable finding is that a majority—53 percent—of North Carolinians are not aware that polling-place equipment is not connected to the broader internet when voters cast ballots. Among both self-identified Republicans and Independents, 56 percent are not aware, while 45 percent of Democrats are not aware.
Other findings of the Catawba-YouGov survey on North Carolinians’ knowledge and awareness of elections:
- Nearly 45 percent of North Carolinians are ‘not sure’ if potential voters were allowed to get a free identification card to vote, while 43 percent said the state allowed potential voters to get the free card.
- Regarding awareness of North Carolina officials testing every voting machine used in the election to ensure the machine’s security, 46 percent said they are aware. But among self-identified partisanship, nearly two-thirds of Democrats are aware, while 37 percent of Republicans are aware. Another 36 percent of Republicans are aware but expressed concerns about the security of voting machines.
- Nearly 45 percent of North Carolinians are aware that election officials “conduct audits of ballots after every election to confirm the accurate results”, with another quarter saying they were aware but had concerns about audits.
- A plurality (43 percent) is not aware that “paper ballots are produced regardless of the voting method or equipment used to cast a vote in North Carolina,” while a third are not aware that “paper ballots are stored in secure facilities so there is always a paper trail, and that audits and recounts can be conducted in North Carolina.”
- A majority of North Carolinians are aware that state election officials work with law enforcement to prosecute those who commit voter fraud. But that majority is bolstered by the fact that two-thirds of self-identified Democrats express awareness, while 48 percent of Republicans are aware.
- A near majority of respondents is not aware that “Impartial teams of election judges conduct signature verification on each mail‐in ballot received in North Carolina.”
- Other survey findings focus on whether non-partisan and partisan poll watchers are allowed; protections against cyber-attacks; conducting ‘war games’ with other officials to ensure security and safety of elections; and, a N.C. State Board of Elections team that investigates and refers incidents of election fraud, along with providing support for county boards of elections.
