Summary
The Supreme Court allowed New Hampshire to ban the use of student IDs for voting in the upcoming elections. The court blocked a lower court's decision that had allowed student IDs as a backup ID method, emphasizing that election rules should not be changed close to an election.Key Facts
- New Hampshire passed a law banning student IDs as an accepted form of voter ID.
- The state’s secretary of state also barred student IDs as a backup way to prove identity.
- A lower court blocked the secretary of state’s guidance but kept the law in place.
- The Supreme Court sided with New Hampshire, blocking the use of student IDs for voting.
- The court cited the "Purcell principle," which discourages changing election rules right before elections.
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed, saying this case might not fit the Purcell rule.
- Republican New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella praised the decision as protecting election integrity.
- The ruling came less than two weeks before New Hampshire’s midterm election, which includes a close U.S. Senate race.
