Supreme Court says New Hampshire can limit use of student IDs for voting

CNN, NBC News and MS NOW report that the Supreme Court on Thursday sided with New Hampshire and the Republican National Committee, letting the state keep student IDs out of the ballot-request process for the midterms. The unsigned order cited the Purcell principle, which discourages courts from altering election procedures close to voting day, and said the district court gave no reason to depart from it. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented alone. She called the lower-court order "clearly justifiable," and, as MS NOW notes, argued that it addressed misinformation instead of rewriting state law, according to CNN · NBC News.

The fight began with a law, HB 323, which MS NOW says Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed; NBC News dates it to April. U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante let it stand but, on Oct. 2, froze guidance from Secretary of State David Scanlan that barred student IDs for any purpose, finding it exceeded the statute. Under his order, a student ID could still count as one piece of evidence. NBC News notes the ruling covers a Senate race between John E. Sununu and Chris Pappas.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · NBC News, NBC News and MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · NBC News → Also at NBC News → Also at MS NOW →