Indiana elections chief defends voting ban on ‘unsecured’ student IDs after legal challenge

Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales on Wednesday celebrated the state’s forthcoming student ID voting ban—just two days after he and other Hoosier election officials were named in a lawsuit challenging the prohibition.

Since Indiana enacted its photo ID law in 2005, it has allowed students to use IDs issued by public colleges or universities as proof of identification at the polls. A card must include the prospective voter’s name, photo and a valid expiration term.

That’s changing under Senate Enrolled Act 10. Gov. Mike Braun signed it into law last month, but the ban goes into effect July 1.

A news release from Morales’ office asserted that the law ends the use of “unsecured” cards “that do not meet uniform security standards”—and instead “ensures that all forms of ID used at the polls are held to the same level of verification.”

“Voting is a sacred right, and it must be safeguarded through consistent and reliable security standards,” Morales said Wednesday. The law “reinforces my promise that only eligible Hoosiers are voting in our state,” he continued.

But a lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, called it a “surgical attack on young voters.”

Indiana University sophomore Josh Montagne—who is originally from Missouri—doesn’t have any other form of ID. He said obtaining one would be “burdensome” because his primary form of transportation is walking and he doesn’t have access to a car.

Count US IN and Women4Change Indiana, meanwhile, said the ban would hamper their get-out-the-vote efforts by requiring resource-intensive volunteer re-training and voter education campaigns. They anticipated needing to help students secure alternative forms of ID or provide on-site Election Day assistance so unaware students aren’t disenfranchised.

The trio of plaintiffs alleged that Senate Enrolled Act 10 “deliberately abridges young voters’ right to vote,” in violation of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs further argued that the “sever(e) burden” on such voters, done “without any corresponding justification,” violates the 1st and 14th Amendments. They requested an injunction.

An estimated two-thirds of students at Indiana University’s flagship Bloomington campus used student IDs to vote at the in-campus polling place in the 2024 general election, according to the complaint. It cited Monroe County’s election supervisor.

The plaintiffs alleged the law’s narrow exclusion of student IDs was unfair.

“Indiana law does not exclude any other category of ID in this way. In fact, in recent years, the legislature has amended the voter ID law to expand the scope of acceptable IDs, even allowing for the use of certain IDs that do not otherwise meet the statutory requirements,” the lawsuit reads.

For example, documents issued by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indiana National Guard, a federally recognized Native American tribe or other entities can be used even when they don’t have expiration dates, or have indefinite expiration dates.

Morales and lawmakers justified the ban as ensuring that only Indiana residents and U.S. citizens can vote in the state’s elections.

The plaintiffs, however, noted that Indiana’s photo ID law isn’t structured to confirm a voter’s residence or citizenship—just that the person who shows up at the polls is who they claim. Proof of residency and citizenship are established during the voter registration process and “should not be conflated” with proof of identity requirements, the state’s guidebook reads.

Other accepted federal forms of ID, like a passport or military-issued card, don’t indicate where their subjects reside.

“While prohibiting the use of student IDs will not advance any of the legislators’ purported rationales, it will make it harder for a specific group of people — young voters—to participate in Indiana’s elections,” the complaint argues.

Meanwhile, Morales and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita are waging their own lawsuit to force federal citizenship verification for nearly 600,000 Hoosiers who registered without providing an Indiana driver’s license number or a Social Security Number—or who live overseas. Some of those could include those who registered before those numbers were required.

Morales also applauded the passage of legislation allowing county clerks to send a notice requesting proof of citizenship when someone registers to vote with a temporary credential ID.