Idaho students are not letting their right to vote with a school ID go down without a fight.

Earlier this month, state lawmakers passed legislation to prohibit the use of student IDs as a valid form of identification when voting.

Matt Gordon, an attorney representing the groups Babe Vote, which filed suit to challenge the law, said it is a direct attack on Idaho students' ability to vote.

"When you remove a form of identification that students have and that they can show at the polls for voting, that does make it harder for some students to vote, particularly students for whom that is the only form of acceptable identification that they might have to show at the polls," Gordon contended.

Gordon noted the legislation comes at a time when youth voter registration has surged. An analysis of 2022 compared with 2018 found registration for people ages 18 and 19 in the state jumped 81%, the highest in the nation. Lawmakers who supported the bill said it is needed to counter voter fraud.

However, Gordon noted lawmakers, as well as the Secretary of State, could not cite any cases to support this claim.

"The evidence just isn't there," Gordon argued. "They presented no evidence of any fraud associated with the use of student IDs to vote."

Gordon added the aim is to have this case resolved before the 2024 election, so students understand what kind of identification they need, or need to obtain, to vote next year.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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A court hearing next week could help determine whether an eastern South Dakota mayor will face a recall election. Events are rare for this state, but there is a strong appetite for "direct democracy," according to one expert. The legal wrangling surrounding a possible recall vote concerns the mayor of Baltic, with the next hearing scheduled for June 15th.

Joshua Spivak, author and senior research fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College and expert on recall elections, said South Dakota law prevents statewide officeholders from being recalled; it has set a tone that even local leaders have rarely. But he said residents and activist groups are showing a lot of interest in statewide ballot initiatives.

"Voters like this," he said. "And it's not a conservative and it's not a liberal position to like direct democracy."

Spivak added several proposed statewide ballot questions are already going through approval stages for the 2024 election. It follows high-profile questions put before South Dakota voters in recent years. He described it as a "counter-pushback" toward legislative efforts to add more requirements for initiated measures. Those who support such moves worry about what they call "citizen lawmakers" working around the Legislature.

In states where restrictions to circulating petitions for ballot questions have been added, it has often been Republican lawmakers pushing for those changes. So far, Spivak explained, those policymakers have not paid the price come election time. But he added it is fair to question if their constituents will eventually have a change of heart.

"There is a strong possibility, especially if somebody's running an insurgent campaign against these election officials saying, 'Hey, I support your right to make your own choices.' They didn't," he said.

Experts say the dynamic is interesting for South Dakota because it was the first state to adopt the initiative and referendum process on a statewide level. As for recall elections, Spivak's research notes there is only one documented vote happening in South Dakota in the past dozen years. That happened in Whitewood, where the election official in question survived the effort to vote them out of office.


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The Keystone State's general election is less than six months away and a nonpartisan, grassroots organization is already getting the word out to residents about the importance of voting and voter registration.

Pennsylvania has more than 8.7 million registered voters, but it is estimated the voter turnout during the municipal primary election was only 27.5%.

Becky Wyss, president of the League of Women Voters of Westmoreland County, said they are hoping to see a better turnout in November.

"The turnout was very light in Westmoreland County," Wyss pointed out. "I looked up the newspaper accounts of it. And the overall turnout for the primary was 29%. But that's up from 24.5% in 2019 when many of the same races were on the ballot."

Wyss noted they are committed to having Vote411.org set up for Westmoreland County in time for the general election. The League's national website is a one-stop shop for election information. Anyone can check their voter registration status, find their polling place or request a mail-in ballot. By entering a mailing address, voters can also see a guide to the specific races and candidates on their ballots.

Wyss explained turnout may have been low because of uncontested races, and independent voters may have been unsure about how Pennsylvania's closed primaries work. The League held a "Timely Topics Speaker Series," to help educate voters, and Wyss encouraged residents to attend the next speaker series.

"In the fall, we have two speaker series on the school board," Wyss said. "One is on school board governance. The second is on financing for schools. So we're hoping that will generate a lot of interest in getting people out to the general election. Because school boards, there's just a ton of school board elections going on right now."

Judy Clack, vice president of voter services for the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, said the overall turnout there improved from 16.5% four years ago to 31% this year. She noted the district attorney and county executive race was contested this time, but four years ago, it was not contested.

"Mail in, 35% of our 31% who voted, voted by mail, 35% in Allegheny County, and our county has become very supportive of mail-in voting," Clack observed.

Clack added voting integrity is a top priority and contends the election process in Pennsylvania is secure.

"There is no fraud in Pennsylvania," Clack contended. "If you get a mail-in ballot, it is keyed to your voter registration. When you return it, they scan it and they see Judy Clack turned in her mail-in ballot. That is given to where my polling place is, and so I could not go vote again."


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The moment Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping elections bill into law last week, several voter-advocacy groups filed lawsuits against it.

Senate Bill 7050 creates a broad set of restrictions for third-party voter registration groups. It cuts the amount of time they have to submit voters' applications, and adds new and higher fines for late submissions.

Estee Konor - associate director of litigation with Demos, a 'think tank' that focuses on racial justice - said her group's lawsuit targets a new provision that bans any non-citizen from getting involved in voter-registration work.

Konor said it directly impacts groups she represents, such as Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx, that have a long history of helping people register to vote.

"And really what this law does is," said Konor, "it is an attack on the ability of Floridians - regardless of their immigration status - to participate in the democratic process of civic engagement."

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Lawrence McClure - R-Dover - said the bill is meant to hold voter-registration groups to high standards and protect voters' personal information.

Groups like the League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs are also suing, claiming the law is unconstitutional and violates the First and 14th amendments.

Konor said all Floridians, including non-citizens, have the right to participate in the work of building a better democracy. She claimed the law is a brazen attempt to shut down voter registration work in those communities.

"If an organization violates this law in any way, even if they do so by mistake, they will be fined $50,000 per person that has violated the law," said Konor, "and there is no limit."

The new law also requires those organizations to provide voter registration applicants with a receipt detailing the voter's personal information.

According a study by University of Florida Political Science Professor Daniel Smith, Florida voters of color are five times more likely than white voters in the state to register to vote through third-party civic engagement groups.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.




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