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North Carolina Supreme Court Race - Is Your Overseas Ballot Challenged? What to Do?

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Some North Carolina Overseas and Military Voters' Ballots are being challenged. If you are one of these voters - you can "cure" your ballot and make sure it is counted by providing an additional copy of a photo ID. 

North Carolina overseas and military voters, from Buncombe, Guilford, Forsyth, and Durham counties have 30 days to provide additional photo ID to their election official in order to make sure their ballot is counted. 

Here's what to do: 

  1. Your first step is to check and see if you are on the list of challenged voters. NC overseas and military voters in Buncombe, Guilford, Forsyth, and Durham counties are affected. According to the NC State Board of Elections: "military, military family, and overseas-citizen voters who submitted absentee ballots and are challenged for not providing a photocopy of their photo ID with their ballot. You can also view a list of the challenged voters in this category: Challenged UOCAVA No ID Voters (PDF)".  
     
  2. Then you can provide a copy of your photo ID to your election office. According to the NC State Board of Elections website: "Acceptable types of photo identification, including N.C. driver’s licenses, military IDs, and passports, are listed at Voter ID: Acceptable Photo IDs for Voting, and on Infosheet: Acceptable Forms of Photo ID (2024 General Election) (PDF). You can send this to your county board of elections via email, mail or commercial carrier, in person at the county board office, or by fax."
     
  3. To find contact information for your election office, please look up your county in our Election Official Directory.

 

On April 11, 2025,  in a 4-2 decision, and without seeking additional briefs or oral argument, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order that: 

  • Reversed the state court of appeals’ requirement that would have given voters with allegedly incomplete registrations just 15 days to cure their ballots. These ballots will count.
  • Extended the cure period to 30 days for overseas voters — from just a few counties — who did not submit photo ID with their ballots. See above for instructions. 
  • Excluded the ballots of ballots of children and dependents of military service members and other overseas families who inherited residence from their families.  Unfortunately, if you are an American born abroad to an North Carolinian, your ballot cannot be cured and will not be counted in this Supreme Court race.

In February 2025, U.S. Vote Foundation and our Overseas Vote initiative — along with Association of Americans Resident Overseas — filed an amicus brief explaining the harmful impact of Judge Griffin’s challenges on American voters living abroad. As the  brief explains, Griffin’s legal dispute bucks longstanding legal precedent and commonsense: when voters follow the established rules at the time of an election, their votes must be counted.  

For more information see our U.S. Vote Foundation blog post on this NC Supreme Court race.