Idaho GOP targets young voters by passing law banning student IDs for voting, sparking lawsuits

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday March 21, 2023 · 10:24 AM PDT

2023/03/21 · 10:24

Supporters of the youth voter advocacy group Babe Vote.

Republican Gov. Brad Little has signed a new law removing student IDs from the list of acceptable forms of voter identification in Idaho as part of ongoing GOP efforts to make voting more difficult for groups that typically favor Democrats. Advocates for young voters immediately fired back, however, by filing two separate lawsuits challenging the measure.

As always, Republicans sought to justify the move by claiming it was designed to prevent fraud—and as always, they failed to provide any evidence demonstrating student IDs had ever been used to cast a fraudulent ballot. Such IDs, which are usually provided for free, had, in fact, satisfied legal requirements ever since the state began mandating voter ID 13 years ago and had been used without incident.

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Now, however, only a more limited list of government-issued IDs—all of which cost money—will be allowed, including driver's licenses, passports, tribal IDs, and concealed weapons permits. That last form of ID is especially notable because gun owners are a strongly Republican-leaning demographic, and Idaho is not alone in catering to them: Republicans in Texas and elsewhere have likewise banned student IDs while accepting gun permits.

In response, the gun safety group March for Our Lives Idaho filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the ban on student IDs violates the Constitution's 26th Amendment, which prohibits age-based discrimination. Meanwhile, the League of Women Voters and Babe Vote, an advocacy group for young voters, brought a separate case in state court contending that the new law violates the state constitution's guarantees of equal protection and voting rights.

Plaintiffs argue that Republicans are reacting to a historic surge in youth voter turnout in recent elections, noting that registrations of voters aged 18 and 19 increased 81% between 2018 and 2022, which they say is the largest such increase in the nation. However, given the conservative dominance over both the federal and state courts, both lawsuits may face tough odds.

Idaho GOP targets young voters by passing law banning student IDs for voting, sparking lawsuits

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