Supreme Court lets New Hampshire bar student IDs for voting in November
The Supreme Court said Thursday that New Hampshire can bar student IDs for voting in the midterms, NBC News, the Washington Examiner and The Hill reported. The court said a judge should not have changed the rules so close to the election. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The Supreme Court said Thursday that student IDs cannot be used in New Hampshire for the midterm elections, according to NBC News, the Washington Examiner and The Hill.
The court granted an emergency request from the state, NBC News reported. The Republican National Committee backed it, the outlets reported. Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican, filed it, the Washington Examiner said. An appeals court had refused to pause a lower court's ruling.
A state law that took effect in April took student IDs off the list of IDs officials accept when people ask for a ballot, NBC News and the Washington Examiner reported. Earlier this month, Judge Joseph Laplante blocked the state from enforcing it, the Washington Examiner said. The Hill said the judge found that officials had gone further than the law. He said the state still had to weigh student IDs with other proof when a voter had no other ID, The Hill reported. NBC News said voters now also cannot use student IDs as a backup to prove who they are.
The unsigned order said a judge should not change voting rules so close to the November 3 election, the outlets reported. "Here, the District Court did not point to anything that would justify deviating from that principle," it said. The judge acted 32 days before the election, the Washington Examiner said.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only one to dissent, the outlets reported. She wrote that the judge's order was meant to make sure the public gets "accurate information" about voting rules, NBC News reported.
The state's attorney general, John Formella, called the ruling "an important victory," The Hill reported. The Coalition for Open Democracy sued over the law. It argued that the law unfairly burdened young voters, the Washington Examiner reported. The Hill said the ruling is not final and the case could return after the midterms.
The state's Senate race could help decide which party runs the Senate, the outlets reported. Chris Pappas, a Democratic House member, faces John Sununu, a Republican former senator. They want the seat of Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring.
What we know: Student IDs cannot be used to vote in New Hampshire this November.
What we don't: How many voters the ruling will affect.
Where outlets agree NBC News, the Washington Examiner and The Hill report that the Supreme Court let New Hampshire bar student IDs for the midterms and that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
Where they differ The cited reports agree on the key facts so far.