RALEIGH, N.C. -- State GOP leaders are again trying to reinstate a voter ID requirement that was shot down nearly two years ago by the Supreme Court.
In 2013, a new GOP-backed state law required people to show picture IDs when going to vote in person. That law ultimately went to the country's highest court and in 2016 Supreme Court justices found the voter ID portion of the law to be unconstitutional, saying in part, it targeted minority voters in a negative way. From then on, people did not have to show valid ID when going out to vote, but that could potentially change again.
This week a new House Bill calls for the issue of voter ID to become a ballot question, meaning voters would have to choose whether they're for or against amending the state constitution to require photo ID to vote in person.
But if the Supreme Court already deemed this unconstitutional once, is this question even allowed to make it on the ballot? Dr. Thom Little, a political science expert with UNCG, says it's possible.
"That's the beauty of the Supreme Court," Little explains. "It can be unconstitutional but you can keep passing and trying to narrow it down trying to focus it in a way that it won't be and that's what they're going to try to do. They're going to try to write it in a way that avoids some of the pitfalls that have been recognized by the Supreme Court."
Little says he expects this bill to pass, meaning this question will be question on the ballot in November. He adds, if it becomes an constitutional amendment, it will be harder to reverse than if it were just a law.