New Hampshire students will still be able to use their school-issued IDs to vote after lawmakers approved a modified bill Wednesday.
Under a law passed last year, student IDs would no longer have been valid at polls starting this fall. But lawmakers are rolling back that provision, allowing New Hampshire-based school IDs as proof of identity.
Democrats pushed for the measure after warning of disenfranchisement for younger voters. Some Republicans, including Senator Russ Prescott, say students have never been denied the right to vote, and shouldn’t be extended special privileges.
"If we allow student identifications from colleges, trades schools, high schools, we have abdicated government’s responsibility to determine what is legitimate verification," says Prescott.
But the measure passed the Senate 14-10, with three Republican lawmakers joining the Democratic minority. The House then easily approved the measure, which now heads to the Governor’s desk.
The bill also delays until 2015 a requirement that election officials photograph anyone who wants to vote without identification.
