Indiana's Senate Enrolled Act 10 bans the use of student IDs issued by public colleges for voting. (FILE: WTIU News)
An Indiana University student is suing Indiana’s secretary of state and election commission to allow voting with student IDs issued by public colleges.
IU sophomore Josh Montagne, joined by non-partisan advocacy organizations Count US IN and Women4Change, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The three are suing Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales and the Indiana Election Commission over Indiana’s newly enacted ban against using student IDs to vote.
Montagne, 20-year-old sophomore at IU Bloomington, is originally from Missouri. Registered to vote in Indiana, he has voted with his student ID three times, the 29-page complaint said. Now, it will be harder for Montagne and other students — mostly young voters — to cast their ballots.
The plaintiff’s lawyers called the ban a “surgical attack on young voters.”
“Ultimately, many students will be disenfranchised — not because they are ineligible to vote, failed to timely register, or are trying to fraudulently vote — but solely because they relied on their student ID, which aside from being issued by an educational institution, otherwise meets all requirements for a photo ID under Indiana law,” the complaint said.
The plaintiffs argue the ban violates the First, Fourteenth and Twenty-Sixth Amendments by targeting and excessively burdening young voters.
The election supervisor for Monroe County estimated two-thirds of IU students used their university-issued IDs to vote in the 2024 General Election, the complaint said.
Count US IN said student IDs have been valid for voting for two decades.
"This is not about election integrity; it's about silencing the voices of young Hoosiers," the non-profit said. "We are the future of this state, and we will not stand by while our government creates unnecessary barriers to the ballot box that will disproportionately impact young, BIPOC, and Disabled voters."
Morales, who chairs the Indiana Election Commission, said in a release the law reinforces secure elections by tightening ID requirements.
Morales said in a press release student IDs don’t meet uniform security standards, and the ban ensures only eligible people vote in Indiana. If students want to vote, he said they must get an Indiana driver's license.
“Voting is a sacred right, and it must be safeguarded through consistent and reliable security standards,” Morales said.
The complaint said though legislators justify the ban as a way to ensure only citizens and Indiana residents vote, there is no evidence that non-resident voting is a problem in Indiana.
The Monroe County Board of Elections, another defendant, declined to comment.
