All Three Amendments Pass, and Watauga Barely Went Along

Voters approve all three constitutional amendments, with Watauga the closest

North Carolina voters approved all three state constitutional amendments on Tuesday, according to unofficial results. Photo ID passed 59.6% to 40.4%, the income tax cap 61.9% to 38.1% and the property tax levy limit 60.4% to 39.6%.

Photo ID puts the requirement for every way of voting, mail included, into the constitution. State law already asks mail voters to include a copy of their ID or an exception form. The income tax cap lowers the maximum tax rate on personal and corporate income in the state constitution from 7% to 3.5%, beginning in 2027. The levy limit requires the legislature to pass laws limiting how much local governments can raise property-tax levies. It sets no number. Lawmakers will write the limits, and any exceptions, later.

Opponents had argued the changes lock too much into the constitution. They said the income tax cap ties the state’s hands in an emergency, that a single limit can’t account for the differences between counties, and that photo ID adds obstacles for voters and doesn’t belong in the constitution. At an Oct. 1 candidates forum, Watauga County commissioner candidates Adam Hege and Ray Russell, both Democrats, said they opposed the levy limit, and Russell urged a no vote. Republican Savva Kostis said no one could say what the limit would be.

Watauga was the narrowest High Country county on all three, backing photo ID 51.4% (12,090 to 11,431), the income tax cap 53.5% and the levy limit 52.1%. Ashe and Avery approved each by wide margins, from 66% to 80%.