Judge blocks Indiana law banning student IDs for voting
Case Summary
A federal judge blocked an Indiana law that prohibited the use of college-issued student identification cards as valid voter ID. The law, passed by the Indiana Legislature in 2025, removed student IDs from the list of acceptable identification at polling places, citing concerns over their rigor compared to driver’s licenses. The judge granted a preliminary injunction in favor of groups challenging the law, finding that the challengers were likely to succeed in proving that the ban imposed unconstitutional burdens on students and young voters. The ruling emphasized potential violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, particularly regarding voting rights and equal protection under the law.
Key Issues
- • Constitutionality of voter ID laws
- • First Amendment rights related to voting
- • Fourteenth Amendment equal protection claims
- • Legitimacy and rigor of different forms of voter identification
- • Access to voting for young and student populations
Case Timeline
1 eventJudge blocks Indiana law banning student IDs for voting
Judge blocks Indiana law banning student IDs for voting (INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — A federal judge issued an order Tuesday blocking an Indiana law that banned the use of college-issued student identification cards for voting. District Court Judge Richard Young granted the preliminary injunction sought by groups that filed a lawsuit challenging the student ID ban soon after it was approved by the Legislature last year. Young ruled that the challengers would likely succeed in their arguments that the law “imposes unconstitutional burdens on students and young voters in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” Students had been allowed to use identification cards issued by public universities at polling places to meet Indiana’s voter ID law under requirements that they included the voter’s name, photo and a valid expiration date. Republican lawmakers, however, pushed through legislation in 2025 removing the college-issued IDs from the list of acceptable identification, arguing that they weren’t subject to the same “rigor” as driver’s licenses.