The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for New Hampshire to bar voters from using student identification cards at the polls during the midterm elections, according to reports from The Hill and ABC News.
The justices had been asked to weigh in on a New Hampshire directive that prevented election officials from considering student IDs to prove a voter's identity, The New York Times reported. Its headline described the result as allowing a blanket ban on student IDs at polls.
The Hill reported that the ruling found New Hampshire's top election official can "fully stop voters from using their student IDs" when they show up to the polls in the midterms. The request was backed by the Republican National Committee, according to The Hill.
The Hill also reported that a lower court judge had ruled that officials had improperly gone further than a new state law. The text of The Hill's account available for this report ends before it describes that law's restrictions, so those terms are not set out here.
ABC News reported that the Supreme Court cleared the way for New Hampshire to fully ban student IDs for voting during the midterm elections. ABC News published its report without a named author in the available text.
The reports differ in emphasis. The New York Times framed the directive as one barring officials from considering student IDs, while The Hill and ABC News described the outcome as a ban. The New York Times report was written by Abbie VanSickle, and The Hill report by Zach Schonfeld. The reports available for this story do not describe the court's reasoning or how the justices voted.
Sources: The New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Blanket Ban on Student IDs at Polls in New Hampshire; The Hill: Supreme Court rules NH can block voters from using student IDs; ABC News: Supreme Court allows New Hampshire to fully ban student IDs for voting in midterms.