BOISE, Idaho — Idaho House Bill 124 and 340 deal with voter registration. One creates a list of valid ways to show proof of residency, the other removes student ID’s from the list of identification methods that can be used for same-day registration and voting. HB 340 has been in effect since July and HB 124 takes effect January 1st.
The League of Women Voters of Idaho and the group Babe Vote cried foul and took the case to District Court where the Judge upheld the law saying it was constitutional. Now the state’s highest court will make a decision.
The Plaintiff’s attorney, Mathew Gordon addressed the State Supreme Court in December. “Can the legislature say we don’t like students, we think students voted too much in the last election, that student registration spiked in Idaho more than any other state, so for no other reason that we don’t like students and who they vote for we’re going to make it harder for students to vote."
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane says the last general election data from 2022 showed the most common form of ID was the driver’s license at 98.8%. Only 104 people tried to register to vote on election day using student ID.
We asked former Idaho Attorney General David Leroy if these bills are much to do about nothing. He said, “Sometimes legislation is criticized as a solution looking for a problem; as to student IDs, this seems precisely that.”
McGrane says the last thing he wants to see is anyone being denied the right to legally vote in Idaho and never anticipated that he would be on the opposite side of a legal battle with the League of Woman Voters. “I have worked with members of the League for almost 20 years now in terms of registration drives, recruiting poll workers; we’ve been in hearing rooms together over the years so really, this comes as a surprise."
We reached out to the League of Woman Voters of Idaho and have yet to hear back from them.
Attorney David Leroy explains what bothers him about all of this: “My problem with this exercise is the optics. It is appearing the Idaho Legislature is the Republican majority, is anti-student and vote, and while that may not be true, it’s how it gets translated down through the media and to the populous.”
As far as House Bill 340, McGrane says one of the big successes of HB 340 is the new free state ID card. “For the first time a free state ID for voters and it’s not just for voter purposes you can use it to open a bank account use it at the store, and it’s not just for students, for seniors, students, anybody.”
A ruling from the State Supreme Court is expected after the first of the year.
