MANCHESTER, N.H.- The voting group Open Democracy and its allies have filed a federal lawsuit against the State of New Hampshire over its new voter ID law, claiming the law illegally targets young voters.
According to the suit, the group says the new law passed under House Bill 323 is a violation of the First and 14th Amendments, discriminates against young voters in violation of the 26th Amendment, subjecting them to unequal treatment in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
Under the law election officials will no longer accept student identification cards as a vail form of identification.
The group now wants a federal judge to rule the bill unconstitutional and, block Secretary of State David Scanlan from enforcing it for the Sept. 8 primary and Nov. 3 general election.
Following this suit House Election Laws Committee Chair Ross Berry, R-Weare, one of the bill’s sponsors issued a statement; “College students are not a special class of voters…Our common-sense law holds everyone, college student or otherwise, to the same standard. There are no exemptions for favored groups. Going to court to demand otherwise undermines the very principle of equality under the law.“
