Hostetler calls HB 323 and Scanlan's student-ID directive unconstitutional
Courtney HostetlerFree Speech For People legal director and counsel for the plaintiff
Hostetler says HB 323 and the April 23 directive unconstitutionally burden young voters and warns that excluding student IDs could lead to young voters being turned away.
“HB 323 and Secretary Scanlan’s directive accomplish one thing: they unconstitutionally burden young voters to keep them from the polls ... The exclusion of these IDs will create chaos in the fall, creating a risk that thousands of young voters will be turned away from the polls. That’s by design—and it is both inexcusable and unconstitutional.”
Official statement
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
Official statement
About this source
Free Speech For People announces the August 11 lawsuit, separately challenging HB 323 and the broader April directive. Hostetler and Horton speak as counsel.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
HB 323 removed student IDs as an accepted way to obtain a ballot. The lawsuit also challenges Scanlan's directive extending the restriction to voter registration.
After the quotation
The release then quotes Ben Horton, counsel at Free Speech For People, saying HB 323 does not make New Hampshire elections more secure.
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. Hostetler says HB 323 and Scanlan's directive "unconstitutionally burden young voters" and that "The exclusion of these IDs will create chaos in the fall", calling the result "both inexcusable and unconstitutional", so we labeled it Condemned. The criticism names the directive, which imposed the exclusion, as well as the statute. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization; it loses because Hostetler attacks the exclusion itself rather than a description of it.
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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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- Hostetler calls HB 323 and Scanlan's student-ID directive unconstitutional
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The Dispute Index. "Hostetler calls HB 323 and Scanlan's student-ID directive unconstitutional". First published: 2026-10-18. Last updated: 2026-10-18. https://disputeindex.com/events/5932-hostetler-says-hb-323-and-the-april-23