Students at Indiana public colleges and universities would no longer be able use their school IDs as proof of identification when they go to vote.
That’s under a bill approved Monday by a Senate committee.
Sen. Blake Doriot (R-Goshen), the author of SB 10, said he’s worried school IDs don’t have the same “rigor” as other forms of identification.
“Go to the BMV, we get an identification card or we get a driver’s license,” Doriot said.
Student IDs can’t be used to register to vote, only to show proof of ID at polling places. And only under certain circumstances — it has to be issued by public universities and colleges, include a photo and come with an expiration date.
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Indiana University student Daniel Jenkins, who led voter registration for the College Democrats there, said for some students, voting in Indiana — where they’re enrolled — is their only real voting option.
“The elimination of student IDs as valid voter ID does not do anything to strengthen our election security and only further threatens to disenfranchise Indiana residents,” Jenkins said.
The bill is headed for the full Senate.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.