SCOTUS Says New Hampshire Can Close Student ID ‘Loophole’ In Elections:
The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily greenlit a New Hampshire directive on Thursday that prohibits the use and acceptance of student IDs in elections. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissent in the case.
In its new order, the high court granted an emergency application by New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan to temporarily pause a ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante. The Bush 43 appointee issued a preliminary injunction earlier this month blocking an April directive by Scanlan that said eligible voters can’t use student IDs as proof of identification when registering to vote, filing a request for an absentee ballot, or voting at a polling place.
According to local media, the secretary’s edict was issued to supplement a bill signed into law that same month by New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte that “made student IDs a no longer valid form of identification to obtain a ballot.” Bill co-sponsor and Republican State Rep. Ross Berry said the measure is necessary to ensure transparent and fair elections.
“Student IDs have no address verification,” Berry reportedly wrote at the time. “No citizenship check. No security features. They were the weakest link in our election integrity framework, and now that loophole is closed.”
Laplante’s injunction blocking Scanlan’s directive came at the request of several left-wing groups, including the state’s League of Women Voters chapter. The activist organizations claimed that the law is “unconstitutional and unnecessary.”
Scanlan filed an emergency request with the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to pause Laplante’s order and permit his directive to take effect for the 2026 general election. The appellate court declined to do so (2-1) on Oct. 14, prompting the secretary to appeal to SCOTUS.
In its Thursday ruling, the Supreme Court cited the Purcell principle, which states that federal courts should avoid altering state election rules too close to an election. “Here,” the high court wrote, “the District Court did not point to anything that would justify deviating from that principle.” --->READ MORE HERE
Supreme Court blocks use of student IDs as voter identification in New Hampshire:
Justices cited the Purcell principle, warning that court orders too close to an election can cause voter confusion
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed New Hampshire officials to reject student IDs as a valid form of identification when voters cast their ballots in next month's midterm elections.
A lower court judge previously found that state officials had improperly gone further than a new law restricting the use of student IDs to obtain a ballot, ruling that officials still had to consider student IDs alongside other evidence when voters lacked other means of verifying their identity.
But the Supreme Court took issue with the judge intervening this close to the elections.
The high court has said orders handed down too close to an election can cause voter confusion, an idea known as the Purcell Principle. The court cited the recent legal back-and-forth over Missouri’s redistricting maps.
"Here, the District Court did not point to anything that would justify deviating from that principle," the majority wrote in its opinion.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, saying the rule did not apply since the lower court judge was helping ensure the public received accurate information.
"When a federal court determines that material misrepresentations are being made about a State’s election rules, an injunction to prohibit that conduct does not contribute to public confusion, it prevents that very problem," Jackson wrote. "I would not disturb a clearly justifiable federal-court order issued to ensure that the public receives accurate information about a State’s electoral processes," she wrote. --->READ MORE HERE
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