Constitutional Amendment 鈥� Photo ID

Likely voters in the November general election are strongly in favor of changes to the North Carolina Constitution to require a photo ID for all forms of voting, including absentee mail-in ballots. The 福利亚洲国产精品 Poll found that 63% of likely voters favored this constitutional amendment compared with 25% who opposed it and 12% who were unsure. The amendment reads as follows:

Constitutional amendment to require all voters, not just those presenting to vote in person, to present photo identification before voting.

Following an April 2023 ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court, absentee voters must include a photocopy of their photo IDs with their mailed-in ballots or complete an ID Exception Form. This constitutional amendment would lock that requirement into the state鈥檚 constitution so it could not be changed by lawmakers.

Constitutional Amendment 鈥� Income Tax

Likely voters strongly favor changes to the North Carolina Constitution to lower the maximum allowable state personal income tax rate from 7% to 3.5%. In this survey, 67% favored this constitutional amendment, compared with 18% who opposed it and 16% who were unsure. The amendment reads as follows:

Constitutional amendment to keep the State income tax rate from being raised higher than three and one鈥慼alf percent (3.5%).

North Carolina鈥檚 current individual income tax rate is a flat rate of 3.99%, down from 4.25% in 2025. The rate is to 3.49% in 2027 and 2.99% in 2028. This amendment would set a constitutional cap at 3.5% starting in 2027.

Constitutional Amendment 鈥� Property Tax

Likely voters are strongly in favor of changes to the North Carolina Constitution requiring the General Assembly to limit increases in property taxes levied by local governments. In this survey, 72% favored this constitutional amendment, compared with 14% who opposed it and 14% who were unsure. The amendment reads as follows:

Constitutional amendment requiring limits on property tax increases by local governments.

This amendment would not set a specific cap on property tax increases but would require state lawmakers to pass laws that limit how much local governments can increase total property tax revenue from one year to the next. The amendment calls for a 鈥渓evy limit鈥� to cap growth in total dollars collected by a local government, rather than a 鈥渞ate cap,鈥� which would limit the tax rate for property owners. If the amendment passes, the General Assembly would need to enact laws defining the revenue limits and any exceptions.

鈥淔ollowing a long history of most constitutional amendments on the Noth Carolina ballot being approved by voters, the three 2026 amendments all have multiples more 鈥榝or鈥� than 鈥榓gainst,鈥� said Jason Husser, director of the 福利亚洲国产精品 Poll and professor of political science and public policy. 鈥淚n the case of the 2026 amendments, all three lock in current status quo rather than leading to immediate policy change, which decreases their potential for controversy in an election cycle currently focused on the politicians on the ballot.鈥�

North Carolina constitutional amendment process

All three of these questions were put on the ballot by the General Assembly, which has sole power to pose constitutional questions to voters. In this poll, 58% of likely voters favored creating a process for citizens to introduce constitutional amendments, with 15% opposing citizen-initiated amendments and 27% unsure.

鈥淪tate constitutional amendments impact state law and policy in complex ways,鈥� Husser said. 鈥淗owever, ballot language that voters see on election day is often short. Our poll very closely replicated the ballot text that voters will see. If the ballot language differed or provided more detailed summaries for each amendment, we would likely find different results.鈥�

Marijuana laws

North Carolina adults were strongly in favor of legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes and also supported legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in the state. Medical use of the substance was favored by 75% with only 11% in opposition. For recreational use, 55% were in support of legalization compared with 30% who opposed it and 15% who were unsure.

These levels of support for marijuana legalization are mostly unchanged from an 福利亚洲国产精品 poll in January 2021.

There was a significant partisan divide on the legalization questions with Democrats far more likely to support loosening marijuana laws. Eighty-nine percent of Democrats favored legalizing medical marijuana compared with 57% of Republicans. For recreational use of marijuana, 74% of Democrats favored legalization compared with only 33% of Republicans.

Related to hemp-derived products like seltzers and gummies with THC levels that can cause intoxication, 53% supported legalization and 28% said those products should be prohibited, with 19% unsure. Among Democrats, 62% favored legalization of these THC products compared with only 35% of Republicans.

An overwhelming majority of all adults (82%) favored prohibiting the sale of hemp-derived products to anyone under the age of 21.

Husser pointed out that the 福利亚洲国产精品 Poll has tracked marijuana attitudes over the last decade in North Carolina. 鈥淲e found a significant increase in support for legalization between 2017 and 2021 as North Carolinians saw legalization occurring in other states,鈥� Husser said. 鈥淥ver the last five years, support for legalization has largely been stable with a large majority supporting medical legalization and a small majority favoring recreational legalization. In turn, support for allowing hemp-based THC has similar levels of support and high correlation with support for recreational marijuana. However, North Carolinians are largely unified in wanting hemp consumables restricted to those 21 or older.鈥�

Poll Methodology

Access the poll topline and methodology at:聽. The survey was developed by the 福利亚洲国产精品 Poll and fielded by the international marketing and polling firm YouGov as an online, web-based survey, self-administered through online panels. Between August 21 and August 31, 2026, YouGov interviewed 1,121 North Carolina adults aged 18 and older. These respondents were then matched down to a sample of 800 to produce the final dataset.

The matched cases were weighted to the sampling frame using propensity scores based on age, gender, race/ethnicity, years of education, and home ownership. The margin of error for likely voters in this survey is +/- 5.5%, for registered voters in this survey (adjusted for weights) the margin of error is +/-5.05%, and the margin of error for all adults in this survey is +/-5.09%.

The key findings reflect major concerns:

• Fears of fracturing human connection: 69% of U.S. adults said that AI will weaken human-to-human bonds a lot (33%) or somewhat (36%).
• The threat to human purpose: 64% agreed with the statement 鈥淏y replacing human beings in most tasks, AI will undermine our sense of purpose and meaning in life.鈥� Some 36% agreed with an opposing statement: 鈥淏y freeing human beings from most routine tasks, AI will allow us to find greater purpose and meaning in life.鈥�
• Low confidence in retaining human agency: 55% said they are not confident that their fellow humans will retain their ability to think critically and evaluate information vs. 15% who are confident about that.
  • 50% said they are not confident most people will use AI appropriately and effectively vs. 15% who have such confidence.
  • 46% are not confident people will maintain their sense of motivation and purpose as AI advances vs. 15% who do have confidence.
• A double-edged sword for users: Many large language models (LLM) users admitted to worrisome personal behavioral shifts: 51% said they felt they were being lazy or taking easy shortcuts at least some of the time when using bots; 39% said they are growing overly dependent on LLMs to give them answers rather than thinking for themselves; 39% feel like they are cheating at times by using chatbots and 22% said they have felt manipulated at times by an LLM.
• Overall adoption continued to grow: 65% of U.S. adults said they used a large language model (LLM) in the past week 鈥� up from 52% in early 2025. This growth spans all demographics, peaking sharply among adults ages 18-29, Black and Hispanic Americans, parents of minor children and workers. 福利亚洲国产精品 half (49%) of non-working adults are also weekly users.
• The rise of personal agents: One-fifth (20%) of LLM users overall have already built their own custom AI agent; the figure is 36% among young adults (ages 18-29).
• AI鈥檚 expanding footprint in everyday life: 63% of Americans said AIs already heavily influence their daily routine (18%) or that they expect it will within the next five years (45%). On the other hand, 16% said they expect AI will never impact them significantly.

鈥淭his survey shows that Americans share some of the core concerns we discovered in covering experts鈥� views about the prospects for human resilience the Age of AI,鈥� said Lee Rainie, director of the ITDF Center. 鈥淭hose experts stressed the urgent need for systemic, institutional evolution to help individuals maintain their agency. This follow-up poll offers a vivid portrait of a nation continuing to embrace AI, reaping tangible benefits, yet feeling deeply anxious about the impact AI will have on what it means to be human in an AI-suffused future.鈥�

It is important to note that despite the significant worries they reported in this survey, most people also expressed generally positive reactions about their AI use, noting that bots have helped them learn new things, inspired them to create something better than they would have on their own, offered better advice than they might have received from family or friends and helped them prepare for difficult human-to-human conversations.

Other key findings

• Guiding major life milestones: AIs have become trusted advisors in many cases. Users report that LLMs played a role in managing a medical condition (49%), upgrading job skills (44%), navigating a career change (31%), making major financial decisions (29%), and selecting a new place to live (17%).
• The perceived intelligence gap: 56% of users said they think AI models are smarter than they are (up from 49% in early 2025), and 73% said chatbots have better ideas than they do much of the time (8%), some of the time (31%) or at least a small amount of the time (30%).

• High-value outcomes: A striking 88% of users said they routinely learn something new and valuable from AIs 鈥� a lot of the time (25%), sometimes (45%) and a bit of the time (18%). Some 70% said they have used AI to create work superior to what they might have achieved on their own, 59% said at least a bit of the time bots have given them better advice than what they may have gotten from family or friends, and 48% said that at least a bit of the time they find the use of a bot to be helpful for preparing for difficult conversations or social encounters.
• Bots bolster motivation, communication: When asked how AI affects some valued human traits, users overwhelmingly reported improvement rather than decline. Respondents said AI use improved: their motivation to learn new skills (52% improved vs. 5% worsened), written communication (49% vs. 6%), creativity (45% vs. 8%), critical thinking (42% vs. 8%), decision-making (39% vs. 6%), self-confidence (37% vs. 7%), leadership (24% vs. 5%) and social skills (18% vs. 9%).

Technology experts in earlier ITDF research have argued that individual resilience is not enough; safeguarding to allow people to flourish. This new survey shows the American public has split, yet generally hopeful views as to which of society鈥檚 institutions is likely to step up to effectively guide them through this transition:

• Tech Sector: 39% of all U.S. adults said they expect that the technology companies creating AI tools could be extremely or very effective in helping people to adapt successfully to a world in which AI has more influence; another 38% said such firms are likely to be somewhat effective.
• Higher Education: 34% place high confidence in the effectiveness of colleges and universities in the AI transition, with 44% rating them as likely to be somewhat effective.
• K-12 Education: 26% said primary schools could be highly effective, alongside 46% who perceived them as likely to be somewhat effective.
• Employers: 27% said leadership in workplaces could be highly effective, and 47% perceived them as likely to be somewhat effective.
• Low Confidence: In contrast, the public expressed significantly lower confidence in the likely positive contributions of legal system, state and federal governments and religious institutions to help people navigate through the challenges of the accelerating AI era.

Insights into this survey

This material comes from a nationally representative survey of 1,505 adults, including 1,163 users of large language models (LLMs). It was conducted between May 14-18, 2026. It includes an oversample of 501 LLM users. The overall sample, including the oversample, has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. An LLM user is someone who answered 鈥測es鈥� when asked if they used any of these LLMs in the past week: ChatGPT from OpenAI, Gemini from Google, Copilot from Microsoft, Meta AI, also known as Llama, Claude AI from Anthropic, Grok from Xai, DeepSeek, another AI chatbot service. We use the terms 鈥淟LM users鈥� and 鈥渂ot鈥� or 鈥渃hatbot users鈥� throughout this report to refer to this group.

福利亚洲国产精品 Assistant Professor of Finance聽Andrew Schwartz provided expert insight for a recent WalletHub article examining how credit card companies determine whether to instantly approve online applicants and what consumers should do if they don鈥檛 receive an immediate decision.

Schwartz explained that most credit card issuers now rely on automated underwriting systems that consider an applicant鈥檚 credit report alongside information such as income to determine approval and credit limits.

鈥淭oday, it is uncommon not to receive a decision within a few minutes,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淲hen a decision is delayed, it is usually because the issuer needs additional time or documentation to verify information such as your identity or income.鈥�

Schwartz advised consumers not to assume a delayed decision means their application will be denied. He also recommended responding promptly to requests for additional information and avoiding applying for other credit cards while waiting.

鈥淢ultiple applications in a short period can result in additional hard inquiries and make a borrower appear to be in desperate need of credit, which could make lenders more cautious,鈥� Schwartz said.

The HEED Award is a prestigious honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to academic excellence, belonging and community-building across all levels of campus life.

Elon will be featured, along with 60 other recipients, in the October 2026 issue of Insight Into Academia magazine. This latest honor recognizes the work Elon as an institution, and its students do to make a more inclusive community.

“What continues to distinguish Elon is that inclusive excellence is central to how we define educational excellence. We put people, relationships, and human differences at the heart of learning and at the foundation of a meaningful personal, professional, and civic life,” said Randy Williams, vice president for inclusive excellence. “Across the university, we share responsibility for creating an environment where people are seen, valued, and affirmed in their identities and can experience a genuine sense of belonging.”

The magazine uses a detailed scoring process, a holistic approach and a team of experienced higher education professionals to review each application.

“Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where academic excellence and belonging are woven into the work being done every day across their campus,鈥� said Lenore Pearlstein, co-publisher of Insight into Academia magazine.

Over the past several years, Elon has expanded its SMART mentor program (which connects first-year students with upperclass students) to support and mentor more students. The university has also expanded use of Living Learning Communities, including the new Mi Casa community. International student support efforts have also increased with the addition of a new staff member in that office to better support students with visas at Elon.

In the summer of 2026, Elon will also begin the Elon Launch program, a 6-credit, 3-week residential transition program to give incoming students an intentional start on college life. Elon Launch is intentionally designed to meet the needs of neurodiverse students, including those with ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, anxiety or executive functioning challenges.

The university’s fly-in program, ElonYOU, is specifically designed to open access for students who would otherwise not be able to visit campus. The program fully funds travel and an overnight stay at Elon. Additionally, the program offers up to $250 in travel support for parents/guardians/supporters.

Williams acknowledged the following 福利亚洲国产精品 faculty and staff who contributed information and suggestions for the award application:

• Naeemah Clark, Associate Provost for Academic Inclusive Excellence
• Mike Haskins, Vice President for Marketing and Communications
• Monica Isbell, Director of Academic Accommodations and Accessibility
• Kimberly Romero, Assistant Dean of Admissions for Inclusive Excellence
• Rob Springer, Senior Advisor for Institutional Effectiveness
• Paul Tongsri, Assistant Dean for Student Success and Retention

For more information about the 2026 HEED Award, visit .

福利亚洲国产精品 Insight Into Academia

Insight Into Academia magazine is the leader in advancing best practices in higher education excellence. Through thought-provoking print and online articles, we share expert advice, valuable resources, in-depth profiles of top programs at colleges and universities, headline news, and much more to help keep our readers informed and empower them to advance initiatives at their institutions. Current, archived, and digital issues of Insight Into Academia magazine are available online at insightintoacademia.com.

The journey resulted in three intertwined research projects collectively called 鈥淢ission America.鈥� Abby Zampier 鈥�02, a psychology major, examined the effects of the attacks on volunteers; Cheryl Olsen 鈥�02, a business administration major, analyzed their impact on charitable organizations; and Mary Zappulla 鈥�02, a broadcast communication major, documented the journey in a film titled 鈥�.鈥�

鈥淲e really grew up,鈥� said Zappulla, now a showrunner, director and producer. 鈥淲e were independent. We were out driving across the country with no parents and with no maps and trying to figure it out. As a producer, it taught us a lot about how to make things happen.鈥�

The three friends were living together when the attacks happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and remember spending the entire day watching news coverage. Each also had a personal connection to the events. Zampier鈥檚 brother worked at the World Trade Center but was out of town on a business trip that day. Olsen鈥檚 father worked at the Pentagon, and Zapulla鈥檚 mother worked in government.

鈥淎t first everyone was talking about the attacks, and then it stopped,鈥� Zampier told the Magazine of Elon in 2002. 鈥淲e were still affected by Sept. 11, and we wanted to see how it was affecting everyone else in the country.鈥�

The three completed the project during Winter Term 2002. A faculty member who owned a car dealership loaned them a van, and they began their journey at the World Trade Center, just months after the attacks.

From there, they traveled across the country, stopping to interview people about how Sept. 11 had affected them and their communities. One of those stops was the site of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Zappulla told the Magazine of Elon in 2002 that interviewing people there left her emotional, and the three women say those conversations remain on their minds 25 years later.

鈥淭he people there felt for everybody because they had experienced something like that before,鈥� said Zampier, who now works in real estate.

The students accumulated more than 18 hours of footage for the documentary, conducting interviews in the winter cold as they made their way across the country to California. They took only one day off because of rain.

Looking back, Olsen is struck by both the circumstances surrounding their journey and the willingness of strangers to speak openly with three college students.

鈥淲e were at war at the time, and we were attacked. It鈥檚 crazy that we felt comfortable going out into the United States by ourselves and to talk to random people about this moment,鈥� said Olsen, who now lives in San Francisco. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so defining back then how the nation really came together and, now if that were to happen, it might be a little different going up to people and asking them how they feel about issues that are serious.鈥�

That spring, the three presented their work at Elon鈥檚 undergraduate research forum, then called the Student Undergraduate Research Forum.

For Zappulla, the project offered a way to process an event that had unfolded hundreds of miles from Elon while better understanding how people across the country were experiencing its aftermath.

鈥淚n North Carolina, you鈥檙e so far removed, and it made us feel part of what happened, not that it鈥檚 a good thing, but it was doing something to express how we were feeling,鈥� Zappulla said.

福利亚洲国产精品 Assistant Teaching Professor of Economics Devon Hawkins provided insight for a recent examining why rising Treasury yields are keeping mortgage rates elevated and contributing to affordability challenges for prospective homebuyers.

The article explains that Treasury yields have reached their highest levels in nearly two decades amid persistent inflation, increased government borrowing and greater competition for investor dollars. Because mortgage lenders use the 10-year Treasury yield as a benchmark when pricing home loans, increases in Treasury yields generally lead to higher mortgage rates.

鈥淲hen Treasury yields go up, mortgage rates usually go up with them,鈥� said Hawkins. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a perfect one-for-one relationship, but they tend to move in the same direction.鈥�

That relationship is one reason 30-year mortgage rates remain around 6.6% to 6.7%, adding to borrowing costs for prospective buyers. The article advises homebuyers to focus on what they can comfortably afford at current rates rather than attempting to predict when borrowing costs might decline.

Lee Rainie, director of 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Imagining the Digital Future Center, provided insight for a recent examining why AI-generated restaurant menus can have an unnaturally polished, uniform appearance 鈥� and why people often recognize something is off.

The article explores how generative AI models can produce increasingly similar-looking content as they draw from existing material and optimize their outputs to be broadly appealing.

鈥淭he optimization of the data sets is for pleasingness, or you know, not being offensive, and so there鈥檚 a way that turns into homogenization,鈥� Rainie told TechCrunch. 鈥淲hat AI is known to do both in images and language is to shave off the edges.鈥�

Rainie also explained why consumers may react negatively to AI-generated imagery even when they cannot immediately identify what makes it different.

鈥淧eople have an almost unexplainable sense about when they鈥檙e looking at something that鈥檚 AI-generated, compared with something that was real in the first place,鈥� Rainie said.聽鈥淭here鈥檚 just a sensibility that people sometimes find hard to articulate, but they kind of know it when they see it and I think that鈥檚 one of the reasons why some of the early stories about the backlash [against restaurants using AI menus] is so pronounced.鈥�

福利亚洲国产精品 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Baris Kesgin provided analysis for a recent international news article in examining the growing rivalry between Israel and Turkey as both countries seek to expand their military and diplomatic influence across the Middle East.

鈥淭his rivalry is one that emerged, possibly, after the Arab Spring and intensified in recent months following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the ongoing conflict surrounding the Persian Gulf,鈥� Kesgin said.

Kesgin, an expert on Turkish and Israeli foreign policy and political leadership, said the relationship has evolved beyond diplomatic disagreements.

鈥淎t this moment, each side perceives the other as a security threat rather than a difficult partner,鈥� he said.

Kesgin identified Syria as a particularly important potential flashpoint, pointing to recent Israeli military action at a Syrian air base where a possible Turkish deployment had raised concerns.

福利亚洲国产精品 instructor of communications聽Pate McMichael was featured in a recent Wall Street Journal article examining Wake County鈥檚 decision to remove roughly 400,000 mug shots from its public website, a move that has sparked debate over privacy and government transparency.

The article, explores the county鈥檚 plan to eliminate online access to booking photos spanning two decades. County officials say the change is partly prompted by concerns that the database continues to display mug shots associated with charges that have since been expunged. Once the portal is taken offline, members of the public will instead be able to access the records through two in-person kiosks in Raleigh.

McMichael, director of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, told The Wall Street Journal that he understands the county鈥檚 reasoning but views the decision within a broader trend of restricting access to public records in North Carolina.

鈥淚f government is out there arresting people, taking pictures of them,鈥� McMichael said, 鈥渨e should be able to access that.鈥�

The article examines competing concerns surrounding the public availability of booking photos. Advocates for greater restrictions argue that mug shots can remain online long after charges are dismissed or expunged, potentially affecting employment and housing opportunities.