The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday let New Hampshire’s top election official enforce his rule that student IDs cannot be used to vote, less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm election.
The court granted an emergency request from New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan in Scanlan v. Coalition for Open Democracy, No. 26A512. The unsigned order pauses two rulings a federal judge issued Oct. 2 and Oct. 5. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to note a dissent.
The Washington Times, the Washington Examiner and The Federalist reported the order Thursday evening.
What the court said
The order is one paragraph long. It cites the court’s past warnings that lower federal courts “should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election.” It says the district court “did not point to anything that would justify deviating from that principle.”
- What is paused: Preliminary injunctions from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, case No. 1:26-cv-647.
- How long: Until the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decides the appeal and the Supreme Court acts on any petition for review. If the court later declines to take the case, the pause ends on its own.
- Who asked: Scanlan and other state officials. The 1st Circuit had turned down the same request 2-1 on Oct. 14, The Federalist reported.
How the fight started
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a bill in April that removed student IDs from the list of documents voters can use to get a ballot. Scanlan then issued a directive saying student IDs cannot be used to register, to request an absentee ballot or to vote at the polls, according to The Federalist.
Voting groups, including the state League of Women Voters, sued. U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante blocked the directive earlier this month.
The dissent
Jackson wrote that the lower court left the state law in place. In her view, the judge only required Scanlan to make his public statements match the text of the law, after finding his guidance could “mislead voters and local election workers.”
“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,” Jackson wrote.
What it means in Arkansas
The order applies only to New Hampshire. Arkansas has its own photo ID rule. The Arkansas Secretary of State lists IDs issued by the United States, the State of Arkansas or an accredited Arkansas college or university among the documents voters may show.
Early voting is open now in Southeast Arkansas. See iSEARK.com’s early voting guide for local hours and sites. Earlier this month, the court also stepped into a campaign ad rate dispute, and voting groups sued over federal use of state voter files.
