Idaho Supreme Court Upholds Voter I.D. for Students

Idaho Supreme Court upholds voter identification requirement for students, eliminating the use of student IDs.

By Eileen Griffin

Legislative amendments banning the use of student identification for voting were upheld by the Idaho state Supreme Court.

House Bills 124 and 340 revised the voting laws of Idaho, eliminating the use of student IDs as a method of identification for voting or registering to vote, The Epoch Times reports.

A suit was filed last year by two groups claiming the amendments would impose hardship on young voters. The two groups and their supporters state that the requirements for voting will suppress the youth, transient, and student vote.

With the Supreme Court’s decision, the voting law will now require voters to provide a driver’s license, U.S. passport, tribal identification card, or concealed weapon license to vote in an Idaho election.

The two groups vocally opposing the legislation, the League of Women Voters and BABE Vote, both work to register people to vote and encourage participation in elections.

The Idaho League of Women Voters says their mission is, “Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.” They also are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“The League of Women Voters of Idaho is an organization fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in principle and in practice,” the website reads. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to the organization’s current and future success in engaging all individuals, households, communities, and policymakers in creating a more perfect democracy.”

BABE Vote states that their mission is to encourage underrepresented people to register to vote, and to “help them vote,” the website says. BABE Vote states “By registering and organizing record numbers of students across the country, we can take back our democracy and build a more just and equitable world.”

“By registering and organizing record numbers of students across the country, we can take back our democracy and build a more just and equitable world,” the website reads. “We will vote in every election from now on. We will achieve the change we are longing for in our leadership, economy and opportunity. We will change America—one election at a time.”

The youth vote was influential in the 2022 mid-term elections, NPR reported at the time.

“Election victories, like those of incumbent Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D) of Nevada and Mark Kelly (D) of Arizona, were fueled in part by young voters, including on college campuses in key battleground states, where students organized and campaigned to get other young voters to the polls on Nov. 8,” writes Alana Wise for the outlet.

On key issues where Democrats and Republicans differ, young people tend to support the Democrat vision. Young people tend to support debt forgiveness, abortion rights, and climate change initiatives.

Efforts to encourage students to vote have resulted in big Democrat victories, Politico reported after the spring 2023 elections in Wisconsin. One county in Wisconsin, Dane County, home of the University of Wisconsin, now controls state politics.

“Dane County alone is now so dominant that it overwhelms the Milwaukee suburbs (which have begun trending leftward anyway),” Charlie Mahtesian and Madi Alexander wrote for Politico. “In effect, Dane has become a Republican-killing Death Star.”

This is happening all over the country where the youth vote has been energized. Liberal college counties are gaining political power with the overwhelming numbers of young people voting on the campus.

“They’ve already played a pivotal role in turning several red states blue and they could play an equally decisive role in key swing states next year,” Mahtesian and Alexander write.

In college communities across the country, the presence of a large university results in landslide victories for Democrats. Even in red states college students impact the vote with their support weighted towards Democrats.

“More college students and more faculty tend to be a recipe for more Democratic votes,” Mahtesian and Alexander write.

Targeting the youth vote starts before college in places like Chicago where voting-age high school students are escorted to the poll booths by teachers, as Heartland Daily News previously reported.

The state of Michigan also has a program to target students in high school by pre-registering 16-year-olds to vote, The Epoch Times reports. Introduced by Democrat state Rep. Betsy Cofia, pre-registering is likely to increase youth voter turnout.

Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia already allow voter pre-registration for those under the age of 18.

“It’s getting the youngest voting block engaged early,” Michigan Rep. Matt Koleszar (D) told the outlet.

The Michigan law gives teachers more of a reason to discuss politics in the classroom.

Cofia says she believes pre-registering youth voters will, “allow young people to ask questions, get information, and gain enthusiasm for voting from their teachers, even if their own families do not vote.”

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