FAQ: Letters to Voters About Unvalidated ID Numbers

In early 2026, the State Board of Elections sent letters on behalf of the county boards of elections to more than 241,000 N.C. voters who, when registering to vote, did not provide an identification number that validated against other databases. While these voters’ registrations complied with the law and are complete, the State Board letters encourage the voters to update their voter records by providing their driver’s license or social security numbers or by ensuring the name on their voter registration matches other official government records. This is to help make the state’s voter rolls more accurate and does not affect the voters’ eligibility. For additional information, read State Board Sends Letters to Voters with Unvalidated Identification Numbers.

The State Board and county boards of elections have received many questions about these letters. We’ve attempted to answer the most-asked questions below. Voters with additional questions may contact the State Board at elections.sboe@ncsbe.gov or their county board of elections.

FAQ:

Tab/Accordion Items

You do not have a validated driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number in your voter record. When voters register and provide these numbers, election officials try to match them against the DMV or Social Security database, and we do not have a number for you that matches. Also, if you registered a long time ago, these numbers may not have been required to be provided at the time.

This letter does not mean your registration is incomplete.

No. This does not affect your ability to vote. This effort is for accuracy of voter records, not eligibility.

If you are an active, registered voter, you will be able to cast a regular ballot. This letter does not mean there’s a problem with your record, nor does it change how you vote or whether your vote counts.

Adding a validated driver’s license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number to your record helps us more easily locate and update your record in the future, like for a name or address change. For example, if you move from one county to another, this ensures your voter profile follows you to the new county when you register to vote there and helps prevent duplicate registrations for the same voter.

This is one of the many ways we promote election integrity.

You will be asked by a poll worker at your voting site if you would like to provide your driver’s license number or Social Security number so another attempt can be made to validate it. This is completely voluntary, and even if you decline to provide the information, you will still vote a regular ballot, unless you must vote a provisional ballot for a different reason.

No. You can choose to provide as much information as you would like. You are not required to provide this information, but it could make your future voting experiences quicker, if you make future updates to your voter registration.

The letters list three ways the voters can submit information to update their records:

  • By mail: Fill out a form at the bottom of the letter to provide identification information and return it in the pre-addressed return envelope, with postage provided.
  • Online: Recipients with North Carolina driver’s licenses or NCDMV ID cards may submit an updated voter registration form through the NCDMV’s secure website. Go to payments.ncdot.gov. There is no fee for this service. Click “Yes” when asked to update your voter information.
  • In-person: Visit their county board of elections to submit the form in person and discuss their options with election officials. 
Off