Student identification cards will be fully barred for voting in New Hampshire during the midterm elections after a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday.
Granting a Republican-backed emergency appeal, the justices blocked student IDs as a backup form of verification, pointing to legal precedent against altering election rules near Voting Day.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only member of the court to publicly dissent.
New Hampshire passed a law earlier this year removing student IDs from the list of explicitly accepted identification for obtaining a ballot. The secretary of state then issued directives barring them as a secondary identity check.
After a judge upheld the law while blocking the guidance in early October, the state appealed to the Supreme Court with support from the Republican National Committee.
The order comes less than two weeks before New Hampshire voters decide a tight U.S. Senate contest.
State Rep. Donald McFarlane said he introduced the legislation because academic institutions do not maintain the same credentialing standards as government agencies.
"Today’s Supreme Court decision is a victory for common sense," he stated in an email. "It allows HB 323 to work as intended: strengthening voter identity verification, applying a consistent standard, and maintaining public confidence in New Hampshire elections."
He explained that "The change removes a special exception and applies the same government-issued ID standard to all voters," adding that the measure had bipartisan support and that students can receive free state IDs.
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