Cabarrus County voters will decide on three proposed changes to the North Carolina Constitution on Nov. 3, including one that would write photo ID requirements for mail-in voting into the state constitution.

The Republican-led General Assembly placed all three amendments on the ballot. Democratic lawmakers largely opposed the measures, WRAL reported.

The photo ID amendment would enshrine voter identification requirements in the constitution for all forms of voting. North Carolina law already requires a valid photo ID to vote, and a 2023 state Supreme Court ruling requires absentee voters to include a photocopy of their ID or complete an ID Exception Form. The amendment would prevent future lawmakers from changing that policy.

The ballot text reads: "Constitutional amendment to require all voters, not just those presenting to vote in person, to present photo identification before voting."

A second amendment would cap the state personal income tax rate at 3.5%. North Carolina's flat income tax rate is 3.99% in 2026, already scheduled to drop to 3.49% in 2027 and 2.99% in 2028. The amendment would set a constitutional ceiling at 3.5%, lowering the current maximum from 7%. It does not affect corporate income taxes.

The third amendment would require the General Assembly to pass laws limiting how much local governments can increase property tax revenue each year. The ballot language does not specify a cap. State lawmakers would set the actual limit after the election.

The NC Housing Coalition analyzed what a hypothetical 2% levy limit would mean: the state's 100 counties would have lost $587.8 million in revenue, and the average homeowner would save $84 per year, according to Carolina Public Press.

Two recent polls show broad support for all three measures. An Elon University Poll of 800 likely voters, conducted Aug. 21–31, found 72% favor the property tax amendment and 67% favor the income tax cap. The photo ID requirement drew 63% support. A Catawba College-YouGov survey of 1,000 North Carolina adults in August found 70% support the photo ID amendment, including 90% of Republicans, 66% of unaffiliated voters and 57% of Democrats.

Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll and a political science professor at Elon University, said in a Sept. 17 news release that all three amendments "lock in current status quo rather than leading to immediate policy change, which decreases their potential for controversy."

Michael Bitzer, a professor at Catawba College who directed the YouGov survey, noted in a Sept. 3 Salisbury Post article that support for the property tax amendment dropped from 79% to 69% when respondents weighed potential tradeoffs such as cuts to local services.

Historically, 72% of constitutional amendments placed on the North Carolina ballot have passed, according to a Ballotpedia count cited by Husser.

Cabarrus County voters will also see a separate $340 million school bond and a $60 million community college bond on the same ballot.

The state began mailing absentee ballots Sept. 4, according to WBTV. The deadline to request one is Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 9 at 5 p.m., though same-day registration is available during early voting.

In-person early voting in Cabarrus County runs Oct. 15–31 at four sites countywide, including locations in Concord and Kannapolis. Voters without an acceptable photo ID can get one free at the Cabarrus County Board of Elections office, 369 Church St. N in Concord, which is not an early voting or Election Day polling place.