RALEIGH, N.C. — When North Carolina voters flip their ballots over this fall, they will find three proposed changes to the state constitution, adding to a document that has been revised dozens of times since its current version was adopted in 1971.
Lawmakers cannot change the constitution on their own. An amendment needs support from three-fifths of the House and three-fifths of the Senate just to reach the ballot, and then a simple majority of voters must approve it. Since 1971, 52 amendments have gone before North Carolina voters, and 42 of them passed.
That puts the state somewhere in the middle nationally. Texas voters can face 15 or so amendments in a single year, while places like Vermont and Indiana may go four to eight years between them. The federal constitution is changed far less often than any state charter.
The first measure on the Nov. 3 ballot would require every voter, including those voting absentee by mail, to show photo identification. State law already requires mail voters to include a copy of an ID, so the amendment would mainly lock that rule into the constitution, where it would be harder to overturn in state court. Legislators approved putting it on the ballot in December 2024.
The second would cap the state income tax rate at 3.5%. The current constitutional ceiling is 7%, set by voters in 2018 after decades at 10%. The state budget passed in July already cuts the rate to 3.49% in 2027, down from 3.99% today, but the amendment would make the lower cap permanent.
The third would direct the General Assembly to limit how much counties and cities can raise property taxes each year. North Carolina has no state property tax, so the levy pays for local services such as schools, public safety and trash pickup. The amendment itself does not set a number; lawmakers would decide the limit and any exceptions later.
In-person early voting runs through 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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