Arizona Republicans defend Idaho law banning student IDs as voting identification

State GOP legislative leaders are joining a case in Idaho in an effort to prohibit the use of student IDs as valid identification for voting.

A 2023 Idaho law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit bans students from registering to vote and casting a ballot using student IDs. Voting rights groups challenged the law, arguing that limiting forms of ID will disenfranchise voters – in this case, students in particular.

Republican leaders of the Arizona House and Senate signed onto a brief issued by lawmakers from 20 states in defense of Idaho’s law.

Other states do not allow student ID as a form of valid identification for voting, including Arizona.

Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) said in a statement it’s important to defend states’ rights to implement voter ID laws.

“Every state has an absolute right to implement voter ID laws through its Legislature," Petersen wrote. "Arizona has been at the forefront of this movement to ensure the integrity of our elections' process through the requirement that citizens must produce voter ID when registering and when appearing to vote. Prevention is better than prosecution.”

House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-Goodyear) noted in his own statement that student IDs have varying security features and designs, so it makes sense to require more secure identification.

“Arizona’s election laws are under constant attack by activists who want to chip away at basic security measures. If we don’t fight back, we risk undermining public confidence in our elections,” Montenegro wrote.

A lower district court already ruled in favor of the Idaho law.

The plaintiffs in the case argued that the Idaho law constitutes age discrimination, but the lower court said they failed to prove it. Although the court acknowledged that the law will disproportionately affect students who are typically young, that doesn’t amount to “discriminatory intent.”