The State Board of Elections in North Carolina says that a cell phone ID can be used as proof of identity under the state’s voter ID law.
In court on Thursday, the state and national Republican groups said it is not.
People have sued the five-person, bipartisan state authority and its executive head seven times in 52 days. They are in charge of running the elections. For the fourth time, the North Carolina Republican Party and the Republican National Convention, which is run by the former head of the state party, are being sued.
This card can be used on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. It was passed by the state board three weeks ago by a vote of 3-2. Students and workers with Apple phones don’t have to do it.
Plaintiffs say that it is against state law to have an ID that is not real. You can get a military or veterans photo ID card from the U.S. government, a public assistance ID card with a photo from the U.S. or North Carolina government, or a tribal enrollment card with a photo from a tribe recognized by the state or federal government.
These tribes include the Cherokee-Eastern Band, Coharie, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi-Saponi, Sappony, and Waccamaw Siouan.
There are also 95 places that accept photo IDs from students, government workers, or both.
The case says the board made a mistake when it “expand[ed] the circumstances of what is an acceptable student identification card, beyond a tangible, physical item, to something that can only be found on a computer system.”
Making digital things, including with the help of AI, has been the subject of a lot of studies this election season. More than three quarters of Americans, according to a national study from Elon University released in May, are worried that misuses of AI will affect the 2024 presidential election. Many of these people are also not sure they can spot fake photos, videos, or audio.
The defendants are Bell, the board as a whole, and each person in their role as a board member. The board is made up of Alan Hirsch, who is the chairman, Jeff Carmon, Siobhan Millen, and two Republicans, Stacy Eggers and Kevin Lewis.
Several lawsuits have been filed against the state board since July 22.
These lawsuits are about voting rights for the Justice For All Party and the We The People Party, keeping the voter rolls up to date twice, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s freedom of speech, and a memo giving county boards of elections instructions that were against state laws about absentee ballots by mail.