Republican legislators are making good on their promise to outlaw the use of student IDs while voting.
The bill, introduced by freshman Rep. Tina Lambert (R-Caldwell), would also eliminate the ability for someone who forgot to bring their ID to the polls to sign an affidavit and receive a ballot.
Student IDs don't necessarily display an address, birth date or other information featured on other forms of government identification, which Republicans have repeatedly pointed to as an entry point to voter fraud.
State law currently allows someone to use a state-issued ID, passport, tribal ID, a student ID or concealed weapons license to prove their identity in order to vote.
Lambert said her constituents are concerned that students from Oregon and Washington, which use vote-by-mail systems, would vote twice in an election – something that’s already a felony.
In voicing his support for the bill, Rep. Joe Palmer (R-Meridian) said voters should be committed to Idaho and get a state-issued ID.
“If somebody’s going to be a resident of Idaho, they’re going to immediately change their driver’s license over so they have residency,” Palmer said.
But the Idaho Transportation Department doesn’t require students to get a new driver’s license if they’re from out of state. Others have 90 days from when they move to Idaho to transfer their licenses.
Eliminating the use of student IDs has been a goal of many Republicans in the state legislature for years.
Dorothy Moon, now the state GOP chair and a former state representative, tried to remove student IDs as a valid form of identification in a bill last year, along with same-day voter registration. That attempt failed.
Last summer, Moon ran a resolution during the Idaho Republican Convention calling on lawmakers to continue the cause.
The bill still needs a public hearing before it could be considered by the entire House.
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