Horton says student-ID restrictions add a step without improving security
Ben HortonFree Speech For People counsel representing Open Democracy
Horton says the restrictions add bureaucracy without improving election security and could discourage future voting.
“It’s adding this extra layer of bureaucracy with literally no actual difference in the amount of types of documents that are being required; it’s just adding another step. This does nothing to further election security”
Reporting
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
Zach Laird's original InDepthNH report, later distributed through AP, quotes the plaintiff's counsel, an HB 323 cosponsor and the House Democratic leader two days after the lawsuit was filed. Their claims about fraud, security and legality are attributed arguments.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
InDepthNH reporting distributed through AP quotes a bill sponsor, the House Democratic leader and litigation counsel. Their allegations about fraud and legality are attributed arguments.
Before the quotation
Horton, counsel for the plaintiff, says HB 323 takes away student IDs for obtaining a ballot and that Scanlan's April 23 directive unlawfully extends the law to voter registration.
After the quotation
Horton predicts that additional barriers at a person's first election could discourage voting for years.
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. Horton says the student-ID restrictions add "another step" and do "nothing to further election security". Horton also says the April 23 directive unlawfully extends HB 323. We labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, since Horton disputes the security rationale; it loses because the remarks argue that the restrictions add a step without improving election security.
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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. "Horton says student-ID restrictions add a step without improving security". First published: 2026-10-18. Last updated: 2026-10-18. https://disputeindex.com/events/5933-horton-says-the-restrictions-add-bureaucracy-without-improving