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….