The Supreme Court sided with New Hampshire Republicans, allowing officials to stop accepting student ID cards as valid proof of identity for voting.
The high court cited the Purcell principle, which guards against changes to election rules close to Election Day.
The court’s decision took the form of an unsigned opinion issued late on Oct. 22.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The Supreme Court here applied the so-called Purcell principle against last-minute judicially ordered changes to election rules.
The justices stayed two orders issued by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante that partially blocked guidance issued by New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan.
Earlier this month, Laplante blocked Scanlan from advising election clerks that student IDs were never acceptable. Days later, the judge extended his order to cover public statements to that effect made by Scanlan. Together, the two orders meant clerks had to keep treating a student ID card as possible backup proof.
“This Court has repeatedly emphasized that lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election,” the justices wrote, citing a 2020 precedent. “Here, the District Court did not point to anything that would justify deviating from that principle.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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