IDAHO, USA — Election day may look a little different in Montana, after the Montana Supreme Court struck down four voting laws - one of which prevented student ID cards from being used for in-person voting.
A similar battle is playing out in the courts here in Idaho. House Bill 124, took effect this year, and removed student IDs as an acceptable form of voter ID.
Groups opposed to the law argue it creates unfair burdens for students, so BABE VOTE and the League of Women's Voters of Idaho filed a lawsuit against HB 124 last march.
That lawsuit was dismissed by a district judge in October, and the groups took their appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court.
Members of the organizations are now hoping the recent momentum from Montana carries over to the Gem State.
"What happened there, and what we're currently seeing in Idaho kind of gives us a sense of hope that maybe if something like that can happen in Montana...maybe then what we're seeing here in Idaho with HB 124 also has a chance of having our lawsuit be successful in the same way that theirs was," BABE VOTE member Yvonne Shen said.
Shen is a student at Boise High and a member of BABE VOTE, a group that works to get more youth involved in government through civic engagement. She is not involved in the ongoing lawsuit, which had an appeal hearing in front of the Idaho Supreme Court in December.
During the hearing, attorneys for the state said that HB 124 is within the legislature's power. The state also argued their program to provide free state IDs for voting solves the issues of people impacted by the student ID removal.
BABE VOTE members said those free ID's still have issues.
"It still doesn't solve the problem," BABE VOTE organizer Sam Sandmire said. "Because there are still restrictions on getting that free ID."
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