Can Students Use College IDs to Vote in New Hampshire? What the Court Ruled

The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared New Hampshire to fully bar student IDs as identification when voters request a ballot in the midterm elections. NBC News reported that the justices granted an emergency request from the state, which was backed by the Republican National Committee.

The decision means students who planned to rely on a school ID, even as a backup way to prove who they are, cannot do so on Nov. 3, according to CBS News.

What did the Supreme Court decide?

The court granted the state's emergency appeal in a brief, unsigned order. CBS News described it as a one-paragraph decision. The justices said a federal judge should not have changed voting rules this close to an election, pointing to existing precedent on that point.

The order quoted a 2020 decision stating that lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter election rules on the eve of an election. This is known as the Purcell principle. In the order, the court said the district court “did not point to anything that would justify deviating” from it.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to dissent publicly.

How did the dispute begin?

A state law enacted in April removed student IDs from the list of identification that election officials accept when someone asks for a ballot, NBC News reported. A nonprofit voting rights group, the Coalition for Open Democracy, challenged the measure. The group argued that it unlawfully burdened the right to vote and discriminated against young voters.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante declined to block the law itself. On Oct. 2, however, he put on hold guidance from New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican. That guidance said student IDs could not be used for any purpose when people seek ballots. Laplante said this went further than the law, which barred student IDs only as a primary form of identification.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston declined to pause Laplante's ruling. The state then turned to the Supreme Court.

What did the dissent say?

Jackson wrote that she would not disturb a clearly justifiable federal court order meant to make sure the public gets accurate information about a state's election processes, NBC News reported.

According to CBS News, she also argued that the Purcell principle does not necessarily apply here. Her reasoning was that the lower court's order left the state's election rule untouched, so it was not the kind of last-minute change to the rules that the principle is meant to prevent.

What does this mean for students and other voters?

Before the ruling, Laplante's order meant election officials could still weigh a student ID when trying to decide whether a person is who they say they are. NBC News reported that the Supreme Court's decision ends that option. Student IDs were already barred as a primary form of identification under the state law, and now they also cannot serve as a backup.

Voters still have other routes. A separate provision of state law lets people establish their identity with other, unofficial evidence that reasonably shows it is more likely than not that they are who they claim to be, NBC News reported.

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, a Republican, praised the ruling. He said the state has a responsibility to protect the integrity of its elections, and he called the decision “an important victory,” according to CBS News. He also said it would prevent last-minute court orders from creating uncertainty for voters and election officials.

What's at stake in New Hampshire this November?

The state's ballot includes a closely watched U.S. Senate race that could help decide control of the chamber, NBC News reported. Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu is running against Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas for the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

NBC News described the Supreme Court's action as a win for Republicans. Whether the identification rules affect turnout among young voters is not something the order addresses. The justices focused on the timing of the lower court's change and not on the merits of the student ID law itself.

For voters, the practical point is straightforward: students heading to the polls in New Hampshire should not count on a student ID being accepted when they ask for a ballot.

Around Prague, based on reporting by NBC News, CBS News, Fox News