Supreme Court Lets New Hampshire Ban Student IDs at the Polls Ahead of November Elections

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed New Hampshire to enforce a blanket ban on using student IDs as voter identification, reversing a lower court order that had blocked the policy. The court granted an emergency request filed by the state, backed by the Republican National Committee, and did not provide a vote count in its order. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone noted dissenter.

The dispute stems from a New Hampshire law enacted in April that removed student IDs from the list of accepted identifications voters can use when requesting a ballot. Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican, subsequently issued guidance barring election officials from accepting student IDs for any purpose at the polls. A federal judge blocked that guidance on October 2, but the Supreme Court reversed that ruling by invoking the Purcell principle, which cautions against court decisions that alter election rules close to an election.

The ruling carries significant political weight in New Hampshire, where Democrats are defending a closely watched Senate seat in the November 3 midterm elections. Student voters, who historically lean Democratic and are among the least likely demographic to vote, will now need to present a state-issued ID, a U.S. passport, or another accepted form of identification to cast a ballot.