2021 - HB 255 - Voter I.D. Restrictions

HB 255 would require Idahoans to provide a driver's license number or an identification card issued by the Idaho Department of Transportation to register to vote, and it eliminates an elector's ability to provide the last four digits of their social security number in lieu of a state issued I.D.

This change to the voter registration requirement will disproportionately and unfairly impact low-income, racial and ethnic minority voters, senior citizens, voters with disabilities, and others who do not have a photo I.D. nor the money to acquire one. Voters have to pay numerous costs, such as paying fees for birth certificates, to apply for a government-issued I.D. The combined cost of fees for underlying documents needed to obtain ID and travel expenses can be an insurmountable barrier for some low-income voters.

HB 255 would also make it so that student identification cards could no longer be used for election day registration and identification. This, in turn, may have a depressive effect on first-time, youth, and student voters who previously used student I.D.'s as a valid form of identification to vote. By limiting the valid identification forms, it erases those who already have difficulty obtaining I.D. forms due to affordability or absence of government documentation needed for identification.