Hurricane Helene brought parties together to protect the vote in North Carolina

This article is the third in a five-part series entitled “Protecting the Choice.” As former President Donald Trump and many of his allies refuse to concede defeat in the 2020 election, this MSNBC Daily series brings together election law and election policy experts to address the many threats to the certification of election results at both the state and national levels to investigate.

The 2024 election will be a very different experience for North Carolina's more than 5.5 million voters.

After years of attacks on voting rights by the gerrymandered Republican supermajority in the state legislature, voters in North Carolina will be required to show photo ID at the polls for the first time in a presidential election. Combined with new restrictions on mail-in voting and lawsuits against student voters, Republicans are doing everything they can to suppress the vote among core Democratic voting blocs. These man-made barriers to voting were only exacerbated in western North Carolina by Hurricane Helene and its aftermath.

Despite these new challenges, North Carolina voters—including students and voters living in storm-affected areas—are voting early in record numbers, and dedicated election officials across the state are doing everything they can to ensure voting is safe and secure is comfortable.

While most voters in North Carolina have photo ID that meets the state's new voter ID requirements, there is some confusion among many voters about this new law. Most importantly for voters, if a voter was unable to obtain an acceptable photo ID due to lack of transportation, lack of knowledge of ID requirements, or other reasonable impediment, they may still vote provisionally and complete an ID exemption form. While questions remain about how county election offices will process exemption forms, voters without ID can still vote confidently even if they don't have appropriate photo ID.

A flashpoint in North Carolina's ongoing voter ID battle is the acceptance of photo IDs at North Carolina colleges and universities. After a series of lawsuits, legislative changes and rulemakings, students and employees at North Carolina's colleges and universities are now allowed to use their school ID cards to vote, but only if the school ID card has been pre-approved by the state's Board of Elections. Although the Board of Elections has approved the use of over 130 different school ID cards for 2024, these approvals have not come without controversy.

In August, the Board of Elections approved the use of UNC-Chapel Hill's digital student ID card, the primary form of campus ID for students that can be accessed via a mobile device. The Republican National Committee and the state GOP soon filed suit, arguing that only physical IDs were allowed under North Carolina's voter ID law. While a trial court judge initially ruled that the digital IDs met voter ID requirements, the state appeals court reversed the trial court's decision. The higher courts' ruling has led to a scramble between UNC-Chapel Hill administrators and student advocacy groups to ensure that students who do not have another acceptable voter ID can obtain a physical student ID card for free.

In addition to implementing voter ID, North Carolina's Republican legislature has also further limited absentee voting options. In accordance with the new voter ID requirement, postal voters must now submit a photocopy of their ID or a voter ID exemption request form with their ballot. These additional steps make it increasingly difficult for voters to successfully submit their mail-in ballot.

Another problem is that a voter used to be able to mail a ballot up to Election Day and have it counted as long as it was received in the county board election within three days of Election Day. Now, however, mail-in ballots must be received by the end of voting on Election Day to be counted.

In the westernmost third of North Carolina, the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene has created significant barriers to voting. The winds and flooding in Helene destroyed hundreds of homes, left thousands homeless and left tens of thousands more without power or running water.

But in the wake of the storm, the Republican-led Legislature, the Democratic-majority state elections board and election administrators across the affected region have come together to provide voters and local election administrators the resources and flexibility to comfortably vote this fall can cast a vote. Because of this rapid response, 76 of the originally planned 80 early voting locations opened in the region last week when early voting began. Additionally, voters in affected counties will have the opportunity to return absentee ballots at any election office or early voting location in the state. Under an existing exemption in North Carolina's voter ID law, voters who are unable to provide a photo ID due to the natural disaster are exempt from providing a photo ID as long as they complete the simple exemption form.

Despite years of Republican voter suppression efforts and the worst natural disaster in the state's history, there is also reason for optimism. Total early voting is well above 2020 numbers — and the vast majority of voters across the state are voting without issue.

After Helene, Republicans and Democrats have come together to ensure voters across the state can cast their ballots safely and conveniently. Perhaps most importantly, professional election administrators on North Carolina state and county boards of elections are unified in their commitment to ensuring that every eligible voter can cast their vote and that every ballot is counted in a fair and secure process.