A bill headed to the House would ban the use of student IDs to verify a person’s identity when voting.
Students at public colleges and universities in Indiana have been allowed to use their IDs when casting a ballot for about two decades.
Republicans pushing the bill have offered no evidence of any issues surrounding the use of student IDs for voting. Lawmakers like Sen. Greg Goode (R-Terre Haute) simply said that student IDs don’t have the same rigor as other allowable forms of identification.
“It was never intended to be used off campus,” Goode said.
Under current law, not any student ID can be used for voting. In addition to coming from an Indiana public college or university, it must also show the person’s name, their photograph and have an expiration date.
READ MORE: Student IDs banned as voter identification under bill headed for Indiana Senate floor
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Sen. J.D. Ford (D-Indianapolis) said Indiana’s real crisis is its low voter turnout — which won’t be helped by further restricting access to the polls.
“Senate Bill 10 is not about securing elections — it’s about choosing who gets to participate in those elections,” Ford said.
Indiana regularly has one of the worst voter turnout rates in the country.
The Senate approved the bill 39-11, with Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) joining Democrats in opposition.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.