NC’s 2026 Constitutional Amendments: A Voter’s Guide

Three proposed amendments to the state constitution are on your ballot this fall. Here is what they mean.

When you vote in Cary this fall, you will see three proposed amendments to the North Carolina Constitution. One would write the photo ID requirement for mail-in voters into the constitution, one would lower the state’s income tax cap from 7% to 3.5%, and the third would require state lawmakers to limit how much local governments (like the Town of Cary and Wake County) can raise property taxes. Here is the quick version before the details:

In North Carolina, the only way to change the state constitution is with a vote of the people. (A constitutional convention is the other option, but it is rarely used.) Here is how it works:

1. A lawmaker introduces a bill proposing the amendment.
2. It has to pass both the NC House and the NC Senate by a three-fifths majority. That is at least 72 votes in the House and 30 in the Senate.
3. It skips the governor completely and they have no veto power over constitutional amendments.
4. It goes on the next statewide ballot, and a simple majority of voters decides whether it passes.

This is why amendments are more impactful than regular laws. A normal law can be changed by the legislature whenever it wants, but when something is in the constitution, the only way to change it is to go through this whole process again, including another statewide vote.

What you will see on the ballot

What the rules are right now

North Carolina voters approved a photo ID amendment in 2018. That amendment only spelled out ID for people voting in person. After years of court fights, the ID requirement took effect in 2023.

If you vote by mail today, state law already establishes that you have to put a copy of an acceptable photo ID in your return envelope. If you cannot, you fill out an ID Exception Form that comes with your ballot.

This amendment would move the mail-in side from state law into the state’s constitution.

What would change

Honestly, not much. In practice, nothing changes for voters on day one (Senate Bill 921, approved by lawmakers in December 2024). The bigger change is that a future legislature could not repeal it with a regular bill, and it would be harder to challenge in court.

What you will see on the ballot

What the rules are right now

The constitution currently caps the income tax rate at 7%. Voters set that cap in 2018, lowering it from 10%, and that amendment passed with 57.4% of the vote. The actual rate is far below the cap, and it is already scheduled to keep falling under current law:

The scheduled NC income tax rate under current law, against the current and proposed constitutional caps. The rates for 2030 and 2033 are the schedule in the state budget passed this year.

What would change

The constitutional cap would drop from 7% to 3.5% (Senate Bill 1080, passed May 20, 2026). Since the rate is already scheduled to fall below 3.5% next year, this would not lower anyone’s taxes by itself. What it would do is stop a future legislature from raising the rate above 3.5%, even back to today’s 3.99%, without another constitutional amendment.

Income tax is one of the biggest sources of money in the state budget, paying for things like teacher salaries, state universities, and infrastructure. This vote won’t affect your tax bill next year, but it will impact how much flexibility the state keeps down the road.

What you will see on the ballot

This is probably the most discussed amendment, and it would be a pretty large change to how much power the General Assembly has over funding individual towns, cities, and counties.

What the rules are right now

North Carolina has no state property tax. Property taxes are set by local governments, which for most of us in Cary means two bills: one from the Town of Cary and one from Wake County. That money pays for police and fire, trash pickup, parks and greenways, school buildings, and the local supplements that boost teacher pay. Right now there is no state limit on how much a town or county can raise its property tax levy each year. Local elected officials set the rate during the budget process every spring.

What would change

If it passes, the constitution would say: “The General Assembly shall enact general laws limiting the amount by which the levy of taxes on property may increase, which may include exceptions.” (House Bill 1089, passed May 20, 2026.)

It is a bit more complicated than the income tax amendment. First, the amendment does not set the limit. The cap, the formula (for example, tying it to inflation or population growth), and any exceptions would all be decided by lawmakers later. Lawmakers have said they have not settled on a framework yet, and the NC Senate created a new select committee on property tax reform in September to work on it. Second, it limits the levy, not the rate. The levy is the total amount a government collects. The rate is the cents per $100 of value on your bill. A levy limit caps how much the total pot can grow each year. What it does to your individual bill depends on how the rules get written, and on whether your home’s value rose faster or slower than your neighbors’.

What it could mean in Cary

Cary has raised its property tax rate two years in a row: from 32.5 cents per $100 of value to 34 cents in the FY2026 budget, then to 36.75 cents in the FY2027 budget the Town Council passed this summer. While these rate increases may look small, they coincided with the county’s property revaluation, when home values in Cary grew an average of 56%, meaning property tax bills increased significantly. Even after the increases, Cary’s town rate is still one of the lowest in Wake County, and Mayor Harold Weinbrecht has said the town will need a few more years of increases to make up for past underinvestment. A state levy limit could restrict how quickly Cary and Wake County can move, depending on where lawmakers set it.

It also comes at a moment when how the Town of Cary spends your tax dollars is under a large spotlight. The town has come under question from the State Auditor over questionable spending, a story we previously covered. Supporters say a limit like this would help force towns to follow a budget and plan ahead, knowing they cannot just rely on tax increases to get more money when they need it. Critics say there is no real plan in place for the cap yet, that the amendment is pretty loosely written, and that it gives much more power to the state rather than to your local elected leaders.

The same median home, before and after the 2024 revaluation. The 2020 value is estimated from today’s median using Cary’s average 56% increase in that revaluation, and the 2020 bill uses the 2020 rates. The total bill is up about $1,918 a year (48%), even though the combined rate is lower today (90.46 cents) than it was in 2020 (95 cents), because the home’s value rose so much. It is also worth knowing that Wake County’s next revaluation takes effect January 1, 2027. How a levy limit treats revaluation years is one of the big open questions.

An Elon University Poll of 800 likely voters, taken August 21 to 31, found all three amendments ahead by wide margins:

That lines up with history: about 72% of the constitutional amendments North Carolina voters have decided have passed. Elon’s poll director, Jason Husser, noted that the 2026 amendments mostly lock in the status quo rather than change policy right away, which lowers the controversy in a year when attention is on the candidates.

Wake County has 18 early voting sites this year, and you can vote at any of them. In Cary, the sites are the Herbert C. Young Community Center and the Cary Senior Center. You can find every site and live wait times at WakeVotesEarly.com. The last few days are always the busiest, so going earlier means shorter lines, and curbside voting is available at every site. If you are not registered yet, you can still register and vote on the same day during early voting. You cannot do that on Election Day, when you have to vote at your assigned precinct.

If you vote by mail, remember to include a copy of your photo ID (or the ID Exception Form) in the envelope. Mail-in ballots cannot be dropped off at polling places on Election Day. You can check your registration and see your exact sample ballot at ReadyToVote.com.