This article was first published by Port City Daily and is being shared with permission as part of our 2026 elections partnership. You can find more from PCD here.
When amendments to North Carolina’s constitution are placed on the ballot, they can pass with a simple majority of statewide voters. A 60% or 3/5ths vote in the General Assembly is required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot, which amounts to a minimum of 72 votes in the North Carolina House of Representatives and 30 votes in the Senate. All three amendments on the ballot were introduced earlier this year and passed primarily along party lines, with approval from the Republican Party.
Constitutional amendments are not uncommon. Since the North Carolina constitution was ratified in 1971, there have been 37 amendments passed and 50 ballot measures asking for an amendment, not including the three this year.
The three amendments for the Nov. 3 midterm elections already have laws on them to some degree. Voter identification was passed in 2024 in North Carolina and is required for all residents, unless voters fill out an “ID exception form.”
The state income tax was capped at 7% in 2018; in years before, the state income tax exceeded that number often. This year’s amendment suggests the numerical value halve the amount to 3.5% to further prevent high taxes.
Property tax levy limits are also being broached. The levy is to prevent local governments from taking increasing amounts of revenue from property taxes each year, which some say is in an effort to curb overspending on a local level.
Some academics say the voter ID amendment will not meaningfully change anything about the voting base, only the process, because there aren’t a lot of instances of voting fraud in the state; most voter fraud that has happened in the state had nothing to do with absentee voting.
While other academics believe the property tax levy limit is an effort to control local government spending and the income-tax cap could eventually lead to state budget cuts.
Passing all three would further codify them into the state constitution. And a constitutional amendment is harder to undo, according to Western Carolina University professor Chris Cooper — a political science and public affairs expert with a focus on elections, state and local politics.
“They would have to go through the constitutional amendment process again to get this changed, which seems extremely unlikely to be successful,” he said of the Democratic Party. “So if you are the Republican General Assembly, and you believe this is good public policy, then it’s a pretty smart way to ensure your policy is written in ink instead of pencil.”
Voter ID
Voter identification has been a hot topic in the state over the years and has oscillated between requiring an ID and not requiring one. In 2018, voter identification for in-person voting was added to the state constitution. The Senate attempted to go another step further with passing Senate Bill 824, which provided a narrow list of qualifying photo IDs for voting. In 2021, IDs were no longer required, after a state court ruling appealed the law set to implement the constitutional amendment, and two years later IDs were once again required by law for voting.
Though the language of the voter ID amendment doesn’t outright use “absentee voting” in it, the target is clear: “Constitutional amendment to require all voters, not just those presenting to vote in person, to present photo identification before voting.”
Some Republican legislators have said with the increase of mail-in ballots since the pandemic, the initiative is a safeguard for elections. Port City Daily reached out to local leaders who voted in support of the ballot initiative to inquire about what issues or concerns they hoped to address; a response was not received by press.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections considers mail-in ballots and early voting all absentee voting. In the 2024 presidential election, there were over a million absentee voters in the state, but there were less than 3,500 mail-in ballots. Absentee ballots only account for nine voter fraud cases in the state since 1986.
UNCW professor Nadine Gibson specializes in election administration and public opinion and said the amendment would not change state practices.
She surmised the real goal was to get more constituents, particularly Republicans, to the polls. According to theCenter for Election Innovation and Research, a majority of GOP voters think election fraud is an issue, including non-citizens voting, so the ballot initiative assuages their concerns.
Many Democratic politicians, like Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) and Rep. Deb Butler (D-New Hanover), havecalled the voter ID amendment an attempt to chase voter fraud that rarely exists and a political stunt.
“It is to try and motivate what the polling suggests is an unmotivated Republican base,” Butler said.
According to data from conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, from 1982 to 2025, there were roughly 1,620 cases of documented voter fraud in the country, including around 100 incidents of noncitizen voting. The same data showed that, from 1986 to 2025, there were 123 cases of voter fraud in the state of North Carolina.
A few instances have happened in the last decade locally. In the 2018 midterm election in Bladen County, a ballot harvesting scheme took place to help then-Republican candidate Mark Harris’ congressional race. A county operative named Leslie McCrae Dowless paid people to collect ballots from voters’ doorsteps, forge signatures, fill in votes, act as witnesses without seeing the voter complete the ballot and then mail them in.
“Frankly, I don’t know if this photo ID amendment would have stopped that,” Gibson said, “considering how they did it. I think they did interact with voters personally. They just said they would return their ballots for them, and if they didn’t want to fill it out, they’d finish it for them.”
Afterward, state lawmakers passed a law requiring the NCSBE to publish a post-election audit and enhanced penalties for attempted absentee ballot fraud. It also said absentee ballot request forms must have a driver’s license number, the last four digits of a voter’s Social Security number or a state identification number.
45 Democrats voted against it in the House of Representatives and one joined Republican legislators, who all voted in favor. All 30 Republican senators voted in favor and none of the Democratic senators voted to pass it.
Another case of fraud was caught recently, as well. In August this year, Canadian Denis Bouchardwas convicted of illegally voting in nine elections, including in New Hanover and Pender counties, and has lived in the country since the 1960s but never became a citizen.
Gibson added amendments or ballot measures like this are “pretty certain to pass” because most people find it reasonable for election integrity. However, she suggested with new rules and procedures, there will be slip-ups, especially if someone has technical issues sending or including their identification with mail-in ballots.
“I don’t think it will disenfranchise many people, but it can create instances where people are confused or people don’t have the appropriate ID or have the ability to send a copy, or mess up sending a copy,” she said. “So it will catch people the first time it goes into place for sure, and there will be people who make mistakes.”
State income tax
The second initiative on the ballot decreases the cap set on state income tax. In 2018, a 7% cap was set in the state constitution, following a ballot initiative to lower the 10% ceiling. Naysayers of the decrease at the time pointed to structural budget shortfalls — such as public funding — while supporters argued it spurred economic growth, particularly in business.
This year’s state income tax initiative, which halves the current cap, is written as follows: “Constitutional amendment to keep the State income tax rate from being raised higher than three and one-half percent (3.5%).”
46 Democrats (all but one, who was excused) voted against it in the House of Representatives and all 73 Republicans voted for it. In the Senate, 30 Republican senators voted in favor and none of the Democratic senators wanted to pass it.
The state already passed a law in its budget to bring the tax down to 3.49% starting in 2027. However, the amendment could impact services in the long-term, Cooper said.
Durham-based, independent nonprofit North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, also reported North Carolina will have a shortfall of $900 million, which could lead to education funding cuts and put more financial burden on local governments. The nonprofit predicts that the funding gap will only widen as the years continue.
The state income tax is allocated to the general fund, which pays for education, healthcare, law enforcement, infrastructure and the like. According to the Office of State Budget and Management, state income tax accounts for roughly $17 billion of the state’s budget. The state also has over $3 billion in discretionary funds — some for more general use and some for specific services.
“I think what the Republicans are arguing is, if there’s enough fat in this budget, [less tax revenue] will be fine,” Cooper said.
He explained, in theory, the legislature could raise expenditures for education without raising taxes if they used reserve funds. Basically, a $3-billion cushion can help cover shortfalls where necessary, including potential gaps which would have been funded by state income tax.
Rep. Butler told Port City Daily when that money runs out, the government will need to search for other revenue sources, which may burden low-income families.
“Any service that government performs for you, there’s a fee attached to it that is ripe for increase,” she said. “And who does that affect the most? The poorest among us. Because if it’s $25 to renew your driver’s license, it’s $25 regardless if you make $20,000 a year or $120,000.”
Cooper conveyed how Republicans thought an amendment like this will put more money into the economy if its constituents have more money in their pockets.
“And in some ways, this taps into this larger disagreement between the Democratic and Republican parties and their economic philosophies, right?” Cooper asked rhetorically. “So the Republican philosophy, generally speaking, has been: If people have more money, they’ll spend more money, and that will therefore generate a more healthy and robust economy. And the Democratic strategy for the most part has been: We need money in the government to support these public services.”
Butler, who is up for reelection this year and is opposed by Republican Latisha Grady, told Port City Daily Monday she was concerned about public services, from education to law enforcement staffing. Butler suggested the state may not have had enough funds for Hurricane Helene relief if that cap had been in place in 2024.
“Without adequate revenue sources, it leaves you with responsibilities that you can’t meet,” Butler said.
Her opponent, Grady, favors legislation that gives “relief to taxpayers.”
“An American’s biggest wealth-building tool is their income, and my approach to the affordability crisis in housing, healthcare, food and gas addresses both sides of the economic equation, not just the corporate supply side,” Grady said.
The Democratic State Senate candidate Jessica Bichler told Port City Daily while she agrees with her Democratic colleagues in saying the constitutional amendments are ways to get voters to the polls, she also believes there is nuance to the situation.
“People are really desperate for an assurance from their legislators that we have affordability in mind and that we are working to safeguard the burden on their expenses,” she said, “not just now, but going forward.”
Bichler instead suggested a graduated tax structure, which just means the state income tax would be adjusted based on an individual’s income rather than a flat rate, and to work on lowering utility rates for residents. She also pointed out that General Assembly Democrats tried to exclude the top 1% of earners from the income tax cap, but it was voted down.
“And to me, that really illustrates the point that the goal is not truly to figure out how to fund our state and local governments and to be responsible with our demands of households and to really consider the situation that average working families find themselves in right now,” Bichler said. “It was much more about making a statement. It’s a little bit like taking a machete to a surgery where a scalpel could have been more useful.”
Republican candidates Michael Lee, Frank Iler, Dane Scalise, and Charlie Miller and Democratic candidate Tim Merrick didn’t respond to Port City Daily’s request for input.
Property tax levy limit
The property tax limit has been a hot topic already among local government officials in the last year. At Port City Daily, WECT, WHQR and The Seahawk’s forum for New Hanover County commissioners, when the question was broached who was in support and who was against, Democratic candidates LeShonda Wallace and Rob Zapple were not, while Republican candidates Richard Collier and LeAnn Pierce, and Libertarian candidate Bob Drach were for it.
In New Hanover County, for example, $253 million makes up property taxes in the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget. It pays for law enforcement, public health initiatives, public education and more.
Property taxes are the only tax source municipalities have direct control over. At the county level, commissioners can vote to put a sales tax on the ballot (in 2022, New Hanover County proposed a ¼-cent sales tax increase for transportation, but it was voted down).
There is already a cap on how high a property tax rate can be — $1.50 per $100 value – although that’s rarely hit. Currently, the county’s base tax rate is 30.6 cents per $100, and the City of Wilmington’s is 33.15 cents per $100 (not including special district rates). City residents pay both taxes, a combined 63.75 cents. The current cap applies individually to municipalities and counties, meaning the theoretical total for a city resident would be $3 per $100 value, $1.50 from each local government.
Now, the state is proposing to put a cap on how much local governments can make from property taxes and how that increases.
The language of the amendment requires “limits on property tax increases by local governments.” 46 Democrats voted against it in the House of Representatives and all 73 Republicans voted for it. In the Senate, 30 Republican senators voted in favor and only one of the Democratic senators voted to pass it.
The amendment language noticeably does not include a value, so UNC School of Government professor Chris McLaughlin told Port City Daily it was hard to gauge what the impacts of a levy limit would realistically look like.
“At the end of the day, the problem the General Assembly has with local governments is they disapprove of some of the spending decisions that local governments have been making,” McLaughlin explained. ”And the way to attack those decisions is to go after the main revenue source, which is property taxes.”
For example, Senate Bill 1076 passed earlier in the spring and prohibited local governments from transferring electric utility revenue into its general fund for other local spending. In 2014, lawmakers repealed the general statutory authority, taking away cities’ and counties’ ability to charge businesses a general business-license tax.
“There are not many additional avenues to raise money in local government,” McLaughlin said.
The General Assembly could wait a long time to instill a limit and it’s hard to tell how restrictive they’ll be.
Port City Daily reached out to incumbent Sen. Michael Lee. Sen. Bill Rabon, Rep. Miller and Rep. Iler, as well as exiting District 20 Representative Ted Davis, all of whom supported the initiative, to ask why a number was not included in the amendment and what a timeline for passing a limit would look like. A response was not received by press.
Commissioner candidates in Pender County have expressed support for the initiative. District 2’s Republican candidate Ryan Collins said the county needed to “live within their means,” while Republican candidate for District 1, Shayne Frey, thought the property tax amendment provided taxpayers with “predictable, stable financial expectations.”
“For too long, residents have lived in fear of being taxed out of their homes due to unchecked local government spending and massive revaluation spikes,” Frey wrote in his candidate questionnaire to Port City Daily. “Pender families work incredibly hard for every dollar, and the government must respect that.”
His opponent, Democrat Tim Zizack, disagreed in his candidate questionnaire, and suggested the state tighten its state-budget audit processes instead. Pender Countymissed its audit in June of this year and can be held liable by the state withholding sales tax distributions.
“Counties have different annual expenditure needs. This limit would reduce funds that would require a reduction in services and will increase other fees,” Zizack wrote. “Well-managed county budgets do not need to be regulated by the state.”
Republican challenger Grady for House District 18 told Port City Daily she was supportive of the legislation because she believed it would help address gentrification in the state. It’s a point of concern she said she has heard about from residents while canvassing.
“Across North Carolina, elderly residents, veterans and their descendants report being taxed out of their homes, some of them paid off,” Grady said. “The property tax amendment would set a guardrail protecting homeowners from extraordinary hikes by future fiscally undisciplined local leaders. High taxes are a leading gateway to gentrification, and neighborhoods like Masonboro are now seeking to de-annex.”
New Hanover County commissioner Rob Zapple, running to keep his Democratic seat this year, told Port City Daily cutting services was something he hoped to avoid but something commissioners would not be able to prevent should the amendment pass. Zapple said the county would need to find ways to make the revenue go farther, which could put items like employee retention and capital projects on the backburner.
“If this levy limit were in place today or over this past year or a year ago, I don’t know that we could have done some major projects like asking for the school bond,” Zapple said, also bringing up initiatives like the new build-out of the Cape Fear Museum. “Because we’d be restricted as to how much money we could raise to pay back the debt for that.”
McLaughlin explained property taxes are considered “progressive” income, which means wealthier taxpayers pay more than those with less means. Comparatively, regressive income is when everyone pays the same rate or amount regardless of income; this includes sales tax and service fees. Regressive income can have a heavier toll and more negative impact on less wealthy or working-class individuals,according to the IRS and McLaughlin. Zapple also pointed out the services provided by the company are also used by lower income and working class people.
As an example, Wilmington’s revenue is primarily progressive, since it relies more heavily on property taxes. If the city had to start relying more on service fees like utilities and stormwater management or sales tax, then its income would be more regressive. This was something brought up by council member Salette Andrews back in February,according to past Port City Daily reporting. She said the city may need to rely more heavily on service fees and possibly cut back on capital projects to accommodate a levy limit. She also said budgeting would be more “reactive” and constrained.
The city relies on user fees to pay for stormwater and trash operations; the county has fees for fire services and stormwater.
“I see it as a political tool that could have serious, unintended consequences,” Zapple said.
For Butler, it could mean public education suffers, something she said the Republican-led legislature has disinvested enough from already.
“To the point where we are siphoning $800 million out of the budget for these school vouchers,” Butler said, pointing to the state’s private school scholarship initiative. “And now, we’re now going to come to New Hanover County and say: ‘Oh, and by the way, we know that you’re having to pay for things that we’re supposed to be paying for at the state level, but now we’re going to tie your hands.’”
The local government makes up 30% of the school budget, with state covering 50% and federal covering 20%.
However, Grady disagreed about a funding gap.
“I respectfully ask: When Democrats controlled state government for decades before Republicans took the General Assembly in 2011, when the top income tax rate was 7.75% and legislators ran the state with a $5B deficit, was education adequately funded?” Grady asked. “Voters should know that during that era, the education lottery passed in 2005 by a close vote, with 35% of sales mandated for education. In 2007, the Democratic-led General Assembly did not debate a change to that mandate as standalone legislation. Instead, it folded the change into the state budget (House Bill 1473), turning the strict 35% mandate into a flexible guideline.”
She said Republicans have been blamed for the state of public education funding when Republican leadership has accounted for budget surpluses.
Grady believes a number should be found to determine adequate funding for education and calls for accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility: “Accuracy matters in this debate. Taxpayer relief, adequate education funding and public services are all important, and we can deliver all three at the same time.”
Ultimately, it’s unclear how this amendment will shake out if passed.
“The devil’s in the details,” Cooper said. “The devil’s in the implementation.”
Notes: Rob Zapple is a member of the WHQR Board of Directors, which has no say in editorial decisions.
WHQR made minor updates and additions to this original article.
