Background

Under New Hampshire’s voter ID law, which has been in place since 2012, voters present photo identification twice: once when registering to vote (along with other evidence of age, citizenship, and residence); and once when they obtain their ballot. The law lists types of photo ID that election officials must accept as a valid form of identification for the purpose of obtaining a ballot (which until HB 323, included New Hampshire student IDs). The law also contains catch-all “safety valve” provisions for eligible voters who want to register or obtain a ballot but do not have a listed form of photo ID. For voters who want to obtain a ballot, under the pertinent catch-all provision, a voter without one of the listed forms of photo ID will be sent to the supervisor of the checklist who will then determine if the voter’s identity can be verified. This provision requires election officials to consider other evidence that demonstrates the voter’s identity to ensure that eligible voters are not deprived of the opportunity to cast a ballot. HB 323 struck student IDs from the list of photo IDs that election officials must accept as proof of identity for the purpose of obtaining a ballot. The Secretary of State then issued a directive on April 23, 2026 that wholly prevented students from being able to use New Hampshire student IDs to prove identity when registering to vote or obtaining a  ballot.

In August 2026, Free Speech For People and pro bono counsel Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C., representing the Coalition for Open Democracy, brought a lawsuit to enjoin HB 323 and the April 23, 2026 directive, and asked the Court to temporarily enjoin both laws ahead of the 2026 election.

Statement of Plaintiff’s Counsel in Coalition for Open Democracy v. Scanlan on the Federal District Court’s October 2, 2026 Order

On October 2, 2026, a federal district court judge in New Hampshire partially granted the Coalition for Open Democracy’s motion to protect the right of young New Hampshire residents to vote using their student identifications. We are pleased that the court enjoined as unconstitutional any effort by New Hampshire to prohibit or discourage voting officials from considering student IDs as evidence of identification when registering and voting in New Hampshire elections. The court specifically ordered that student IDs may be considered to establish identity under New Hampshire’s “safety valve” provision when a student registers and seeks a ballot but lacks one of the statutorily listed accepted forms of ID.  The Court’s decision did not yet enjoin the recently enacted New Hampshire law, HB 323, that removed student IDs from that list. We will continue to urge the courts to recognize that HB 323 violates the constitutional right of students to vote and must be enjoined in its entirety.

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Read the Order Granting Partial Preliminary Injunctive Relief here.

Read the Preliminary Injunction Order here.

Read more about the case here.