Zink says student IDs provide evidence of identity
Olivia ZinkCoalition for Open Democracy executive director
Zink, whose group brought the lawsuit, says 18-year-old citizens keep their right to vote and that a student ID still shows identity with a photo and name.
“If you’re 18 and you’re a U.S. citizen, you still have a constitutional right to vote, and even though the state legislature changed the law to say that student IDs no longer count to prove your identity, remember it’s just a proof of identity ... It has your picture and your name.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
New Hampshire asks the Supreme Court to pause the student-ID ruling; challengers oppose the exclusion
New Hampshire asks the Supreme Court to pause an injunction allowing election officials to consider student IDs with other evidence of identity. The Coalition for Open Democracy, which brought the lawsuit, and its lawyers defend the injunction and continue challenging HB 323, the separate law removing student IDs from the list of accepted IDs.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
The Dartmouth interviews Olivia Zink and quotes a statement supplied by Ross Berry about HB 323. Their positions predate the October injunction.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Zink's group, the Coalition for Open Democracy, sued on August 11 to block HB 323 and the April 23 directive. Zink says the group found that many high school students lack a driver's license or passport.
After the quotation
The article then describes the lawsuit's argument that a driver's license, passport or state ID card is costly or hard for many young voters to obtain.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the state's categorical exclusion of student IDs from consideration under existing identity-verification safeguards, which Secretary of State David Scanlan's April 23 directive set out. Zink argued that a student ID is "just a proof of identity" that carries "your picture and your name", an argument that the cards should still count as evidence of identity. We labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, since Zink disputes the view that the cards are inadequate; it loses because the argument is aimed at keeping the cards usable to prove identity, which the exclusion prevents.
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More from this case
Read the full caseTentarelli supports considering student IDs with other evidence
“We at the League of Women Voters New Hampshire think this is a good ruling that student IDs should be considered in spite of the law passed last spring. ... It’s upsetting that this bill passed last spring ... But when it got extended by the Secretary of State to include voter registration, that was an assumption that was not spelled out in the bill”Read statement
Garrity defends the emergency stay request on student IDs
“The State has asked the United States Supreme Court for an emergency stay in this matter. New Hampshire has a strong interest in ensuring that its election laws are applied consistently and that local election officials have clear, workable guidance in administering elections”Read statement
Scanlan and Formella ask the Supreme Court to pause the student-ID injunction
“the district court premised relief on an incorrect interpretation of New Hampshire law. But even if the merits were “not entirely clearcut,” the Purcell principle overwhelmingly supports a stay of the district court’s order. ... This Court should stay the district court’s orders pending proceedings in the court of appeals and in this Court.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Zink says student IDs provide evidence of identity". First published: 2026-10-18. Last updated: 2026-10-18. https://disputeindex.com/events/5930-zink-whose-group-brought-the-lawsuit-says-18