Supreme Court bars New Hampshire student IDs as voting proof for Nov. 3 midterms

The Supreme Court said Thursday that student IDs cannot be used in New Hampshire for the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The justices granted an emergency request from the state, which had the backing of the Republican National Committee, NBC News reported. ¹

The brief order said a federal judge should not have changed voting rules so close to the election, citing existing precedent. "Here, the District Court did not point to anything that would justify deviating from that principle," the unsigned order said. ¹

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal member of the court, was the only dissenter. ¹

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,

How the dispute began

The fight is over a state law, HB 323, that requires voters to show government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport. Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed it April 3, and it took effect June 2. NHPR reported that the Legislature passed it on a partisan basis. ²

Republican Secretary of State David Scanlan then issued guidance saying student IDs could not be used for any purpose when people ask for a ballot. ¹ A nonprofit voting rights group, the Coalition for Open Democracy, sued. It argued the law unlawfully burdened the right to vote and discriminated against young voters. ¹

U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante declined to block the law itself. On Oct. 2, he put Scanlan's guidance on hold, saying it went further than the law, which only barred student IDs as a primary form of ID. ¹

The judge wrote that the state "identified no interest served by the April Directive beyond those already served by HB 323." ² Under his ruling, election officials could still weigh a student ID when deciding whether someone is a valid voter. ¹

What the Supreme Court changed

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause Laplante's ruling. The state then asked the Supreme Court to step in. ¹

The result is that student IDs also cannot be used as a backup when voters try to establish who they are. ¹ State law separately lets people prove identity with "any other evidence that reasonably establishes that it is more likely than not that the person is who they claim to be." ¹

Why it matters

The ballot includes a Senate race that could help decide control of the chamber. Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu faces Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. ¹

That matters because college students are often the voters most likely to carry a student ID and not a New Hampshire driver's license. The order does not say how many voters could be affected, and the sources do not give a number. The court's reasoning is about timing, not about whether the law is fair.

What happens next is practical. Election officials must apply the ruling in the 12 days left before Nov. 3. The case over the law itself continues, and the coalition's lawyers have said they will keep urging the judge to throw out the law entirely. ²

The Record

1. Apr 3, 2026Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed HB 323, the photo ID law, which took effect June 2 ²
2. Oct 2, 2026Judge Joseph Laplante put the secretary of state's student ID guidance on hold ¹²
3. Oct 22, 2026The Supreme Court granted New Hampshire's emergency request; Justice Jackson dissented ¹

Sources

1. NBC News, “Supreme Court says New Hampshire student IDs can’t be used to vote in November” (2026-10-22). nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/new-hampshire-student-ids
2. NHPR, “Judge says NH secretary of state went too far on student IDs for voting” (2026-10-06). nhpr.org/politics/2026-10-06/judge-says-nh-secretary-of-stat

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