New Hampshire Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Ban All Consideration of Student IDs for Voting
CONCORD — New Hampshire has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to ban any consideration of student identification in the upcoming midterm elections. The notice of appeal came a day after the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district court ruling affirming a state law that bans student IDs as voter identification, while also declining to overturn the part of the ruling that concluded the state could not fully exclude them.
In April, Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB 323 into law, eliminating student IDs as an acceptable form of identification for obtaining a ballot. Secretary of State David Scanlan then directed local election officials to no longer accept student IDs to prove a voter's identity, including under the state's safety-valve provision, which lets voters present other evidence of identity. In practice, the lower-court rulings mean student IDs are not accepted on their own, but election officials may still consider them as evidence of identity when a voter registers or votes — the practice the state now asks the Supreme Court to halt completely.
In his appeal, Scanlan argued that re-educating local election officials and the public in a short time is "practically impossible" and risks voter confusion and inconsistent application of the law, if not voter disenfranchisement. New Hampshire voters will choose a governor, a U.S. senator and both of the state's U.S. House seats on November 3.
Sources: Democracy Docket; filing by Secretary of State David Scanlan
Related: America's Electoral System (4): The Midterms: What Is on the Ballot on November 3, 2026
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 新罕布什尔大学 Durham 校区。University of New Hampshire, Durham. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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