Attorney General Raúl Labrador successfully defended Idaho’s voter identification statutes in federal court today, overcoming a constitutional challenge from March for Our Lives Idaho and the Idaho Alliance for Retired Americans. Both groups sued the Idaho Secretary of State alleging statutes, which list Idaho driver’s licenses, Idaho identification cards, tribal identification, and federal identification as acceptable forms of identification, were unconstitutional because the legislature removed student identification as acceptable for voting purposes. This case was very similar to the suit filed in state court by BABE Vote, which was also dismissed by the Idaho Supreme Court.
“The Idaho Legislature took important steps to provide secure elections while expanding accessibility to voting and eliminating burdens to participation,” said Attorney General Raúl Labrador. “These goals are not mutually exclusive. We must promote uniformity and security in the identifications allowed for voter registration and voting. The constitutionality of our statutes has now been upheld at every turn by both state and federal courts.”
U.S. District Court Judge Amanda Brailsford wrote in her decision today granting summary judgment and dismissing the case that, “The Government has shown House Bill 340 promotes the State’s important interests of election security and prevention of voter fraud. Balancing these interests against House Bill 340’s requirement that registrants provide an approved form of identification to register—which may include no-fee identification—the Court concludes House Bill 340 does not pose an unconstitutional burden on registrants and grants the Secretary summary judgment….”
The case is March for Our Lives and Idaho Alliance for Retired Americans v. Phil McGrane, in his official capacity as the Idaho Secretary of State, Case No. 1:23-cv-00107-AKB.
Original source can be found here.