2026 ballot measure forecast

North Carolina Photo ID Amendment

Photo ID for all voters including mail

Requires every voter, not only those voting in person, to present photo identification before voting. The forecast has Yes at 69.8 percent against the 50 percent it needs, a >99% chance to pass.

Very likely to passConstitutional amendment referred by the legislatureVoter IDUpdated October 22, 2026
Chance to pass
>99%
2,000 simulations
Forecast Yes
69.8%
80% range 62 to 77
Needs
50%
a simple majority
Polling average
67.0%
Yes, with undecided split two to one for No
Where the Yes vote lands
needs 50
2035506580
History and structure
73.1% Yes
Polls
67.0% Yes
Forecast
69.8% Yes
Yes leans
Republican
The campaign

Backed by Republican legislative majority; opposed by Democrats and voting rights groups; no money reported.

Photo ID Amendment by county

Alamance CountyAlexander CountyAlleghany CountyAnson CountyAshe CountyAvery CountyBeaufort CountyBertie CountyBladen CountyBrunswick CountyBuncombe CountyBurke CountyCabarrus CountyCaldwell CountyCamden CountyCarteret CountyCaswell CountyCatawba CountyChatham CountyCherokee CountyChowan CountyClay CountyCleveland CountyColumbus CountyCraven CountyCumberland CountyCurrituck CountyDare CountyDavidson CountyDavie CountyDuplin CountyDurham CountyEdgecombe CountyForsyth CountyFranklin CountyGaston CountyGates CountyGraham CountyGranville CountyGreene CountyGuilford CountyHalifax CountyHarnett CountyHaywood CountyHenderson CountyHertford CountyHoke CountyHyde CountyIredell CountyJackson CountyJohnston CountyJones CountyLee CountyLenoir CountyLincoln CountyMcDowell CountyMacon CountyMadison CountyMartin CountyMecklenburg CountyMitchell CountyMontgomery CountyMoore CountyNash CountyNew Hanover CountyNorthampton CountyOnslow CountyOrange CountyPamlico CountyPasquotank CountyPender CountyPerquimans CountyPerson CountyPitt CountyPolk CountyRandolph CountyRichmond CountyRobeson CountyRockingham CountyRowan CountyRutherford CountySampson CountyScotland CountyStanly CountyStokes CountySurry CountySwain CountyTransylvania CountyTyrrell CountyUnion CountyVance CountyWake CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWatauga CountyWayne CountyWilkes CountyWilson CountyYadkin CountyYancey CountyWakeMecklenburgGuilfordDurhamBuncombeNew HanoverCumberlandUnionJohnstonCabarrusIredellDavidson
No +30Yes +30Click a county to zoom · arrow keys step through counties by size
Where the margin is won
Wake County: Yes +124,627Mecklenburg County: Yes +86,455Guilford County: Yes +57,961Union County: Yes +50,340Forsyth County: Yes +48,841Gaston County: Yes +43,127Johnston County: Yes +42,844Iredell County: Yes +42,457Davidson County: Yes +40,670New Hanover County: Yes +40,331Brunswick County: Yes +40,157Cabarrus County: Yes +36,665Randolph County: Yes +35,812Catawba County: Yes +35,349Cumberland County: Yes +33,137Buncombe County: Yes +32,429Onslow County: Yes +32,361Rowan County: Yes +30,412Alamance County: Yes +28,653Henderson County: Yes +24,801Moore County: Yes +24,514Lincoln County: Yes +24,005Pitt County: Yes +23,095Harnett County: Yes +22,597Cleveland County: Yes +20,621Carteret County: Yes +20,404Craven County: Yes +20,192Rockingham County: Yes +20,158Caldwell County: Yes +19,807Burke County: Yes +19,538Wayne County: Yes +18,982Wilkes County: Yes +17,990Surry County: Yes +17,522Robeson County: Yes +16,951Stanly County: Yes +16,468Rutherford County: Yes +15,776Nash County: Yes +15,627Pender County: Yes +14,872Haywood County: Yes +14,513Franklin County: Yes +13,867Stokes County: Yes +13,243Chatham County: Yes +13,072Davie County: Yes +11,876Wilson County: Yes +11,366Columbus County: Yes +10,958McDowell County: Yes +10,780Beaufort County: Yes +10,762Sampson County: Yes +10,750Alexander County: Yes +10,589Granville County: Yes +10,508Yadkin County: Yes +10,344Lee County: Yes +10,303Macon County: Yes +9,514Watauga County: Yes +9,140Dare County: Yes +9,015Duplin County: Yes +8,836Cherokee County: Yes +8,758Lenoir County: Yes +8,653Person County: Yes +8,262Currituck County: Yes +7,888Transylvania County: Yes +7,470Ashe County: Yes +7,439Jackson County: Yes +7,306Richmond County: Yes +7,027Pasquotank County: Yes +6,418Bladen County: Yes +6,135Hoke County: Yes +5,782Montgomery County: Yes +5,474Halifax County: Yes +5,277Madison County: Yes +5,270Orange County: Yes +5,253Polk County: Yes +5,103Yancey County: Yes +4,938Edgecombe County: Yes +4,793Vance County: Yes +4,731Avery County: Yes +4,682Scotland County: Yes +4,634Caswell County: Yes +4,511Mitchell County: Yes +4,465Martin County: Yes +4,026Clay County: Yes +3,650Pamlico County: Yes +3,388Perquimans County: Yes +3,343Alleghany County: Yes +3,251Anson County: Yes +3,215Greene County: Yes +3,128Chowan County: Yes +2,902Camden County: Yes +2,883Swain County: Yes +2,636Graham County: Yes +2,545Northampton County: Yes +2,258Warren County: Yes +2,241Gates County: Yes +2,192Bertie County: Yes +2,159Jones County: Yes +2,101Hertford County: Yes +1,801Washington County: Yes +1,591Hyde County: Yes +933Tyrrell County: Yes +664Durham County: No +3,706
Yes +1,647,160 net votes from 99 countiesStatewide Yes +39.5, a 1,643,454 vote marginNo +3,706 net votes from 1 counties

Projected vote

4,159,492 votes on the question
ChoiceVotesShare
Yes2,901,47369.8%
No1,258,01930.2%
Total4,159,492100%
CountyYesNoTotalYes share
Wake County308,436183,809492,24562.7%
Mecklenburg County252,361165,906418,26760.3%
Guilford County133,99876,037210,03563.8%
Forsyth County99,25250,411149,66366.3%
Durham County69,74573,451143,19648.7%
Buncombe County79,00346,574125,57762.9%
New Hanover County71,56031,229102,78969.6%
Cumberland County67,65534,518102,17366.2%
Union County73,65823,31896,97676.0%
Johnston County64,15321,30985,46275.1%
Cabarrus County60,52323,85884,38171.7%
Gaston County63,21420,08783,30175.9%
Brunswick County58,93218,77577,70775.8%
Iredell County59,57417,11776,69177.7%
Orange County37,89332,64070,53353.7%
Alamance County47,13818,48565,62371.8%
Davidson County53,01112,34165,35281.1%
Pitt County43,22520,13063,35568.2%
Catawba County48,21112,86261,07378.9%
Onslow County44,59812,23756,83578.5%
Rowan County41,93011,51853,44878.5%
Randolph County44,5908,77853,36883.6%
Henderson County38,90414,10353,00773.4%
Moore County35,00210,48845,49076.9%
Harnett County33,09510,49843,59375.9%
Craven County30,40410,21240,61674.9%
Wayne County29,40610,42439,83073.8%
Chatham County26,37513,30339,67866.5%
Lincoln County31,5147,50939,02380.8%
Nash County27,12811,50138,62970.2%
Cleveland County28,5817,96036,54178.2%
Rockingham County27,7997,64135,44078.4%
Carteret County27,1236,71933,84280.1%
Burke County26,2196,68132,90079.7%
Robeson County24,4697,51831,98776.5%
Caldwell County25,1805,37330,55382.4%
Franklin County21,9088,04129,94973.2%
Wilson County20,1248,75828,88269.7%
Haywood County21,2526,73927,99175.9%
Surry County22,2074,68526,89282.6%
Pender County20,6065,73426,34078.2%
Wilkes County22,1654,17526,34084.1%
Stanly County21,1064,63825,74482.0%
Rutherford County20,5094,73325,24281.2%
Watauga County17,1117,97125,08268.2%
Granville County17,1236,61523,73872.1%
Lee County15,8435,54021,38374.1%
Lenoir County14,3965,74320,13971.5%
Sampson County15,3334,58319,91677.0%
Beaufort County15,2354,47319,70877.3%
Columbus County15,3214,36319,68477.8%
Stokes County16,3163,07319,38984.2%
Davie County15,5183,64219,16081.0%
Dare County13,7414,72618,46774.4%
Edgecombe County11,2166,42317,63963.6%
Halifax County11,4106,13317,54365.0%
McDowell County13,9223,14217,06481.6%
Jackson County11,9034,59716,50072.1%
Duplin County12,6633,82716,49076.8%
Macon County12,9733,45916,43278.9%
Transylvania County11,9204,45016,37072.8%
Person County12,2083,94616,15475.6%
Hoke County10,8185,03615,85468.2%
Alexander County13,0312,44215,47384.2%
Pasquotank County10,8464,42815,27471.0%
Yadkin County12,5862,24214,82884.9%
Vance County9,6454,91414,55966.2%
Richmond County10,5713,54414,11574.9%
Cherokee County10,8862,12813,01483.6%
Currituck County10,2422,35412,59681.3%
Bladen County9,2593,12412,38374.8%
Ashe County9,8242,38512,20980.5%
Scotland County7,7013,06710,76871.5%
Madison County7,7902,52010,31075.6%
Polk County7,4752,3729,84775.9%
Montgomery County7,4742,0009,47478.9%
Martin County6,5182,4929,01072.3%
Yancey County6,8601,9228,78278.1%
Caswell County6,6332,1228,75575.8%
Anson County5,5452,3307,87570.4%
Warren County4,9502,7097,65964.6%
Hertford County4,5362,7357,27162.4%
Avery County5,9581,2767,23482.4%
Northampton County4,6722,4147,08665.9%
Bertie County4,5372,3786,91565.6%
Mitchell County5,5951,1306,72583.2%
Greene County4,7921,6646,45674.2%
Pamlico County4,7701,3826,15277.5%
Chowan County4,3221,4205,74275.3%
Clay County4,6951,0455,74081.8%
Perquimans County4,5241,1815,70579.3%
Swain County3,8931,2575,15075.6%
Alleghany County4,1458945,03982.3%
Camden County3,6958124,50782.0%
Washington County2,9851,3944,37968.2%
Gates County3,2801,0884,36875.1%
Jones County3,0689674,03576.0%
Graham County3,0765313,60785.3%
Hyde County1,3934601,85375.2%
Tyrrell County9953311,32675.0%

Projected 2026 votes: each county's expected turnout, less the roughly 6 percent of voters who skip a ballot question, times its forecast Yes share. The measure needs 50.0 percent Yes to pass.

Polls of the measure

2 polls
PollsterSampleEndedYesNoUndecidedYes, adjusted
Elon University Poll / YouGov LV2026-08-3163251267.0%
YouGov1,000 A70
How this is built
Photo ID Amendment is forecast as a voter id measure whose Yes vote leans Republican. Comparable measures from 2018 to 2024 set how far its Yes share moves with North Carolina's partisanship and with each county's 2024 presidential vote, and how it reached the ballot moves it further. Polls then pull the forecast toward them by recency and size, after splitting undecided voters two to one for No. Sources: s3.amazonaws.com, theballotbrief.com, ncnewsline.com, elon.edu. All measures.