Supreme Court wipes out student ID voting option in New Hampshire, 12 days before midterms

The Supreme Court on Thursday evening handed Republicans a concrete win in the fight over midterm voting rules, issuing an unsigned emergency order that allows New Hampshire to bar college students from using their school identification cards at the polls on November 3. The decision landed 12 days before a Senate race that analysts consider one of the narrowest contests in the country, and it came over the solo public objection of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The order is brief, one paragraph. It does not explain the majority's reasoning beyond citing a well-worn doctrine. In the unsigned order, the justices paused a ruling by a federal judge in New Hampshire, citing the principle often called the Purcell principle, that "lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election." No other justice wrote separately.

What the law does

The New Hampshire state legislature passed House Bill 323 in April, which removed student IDs as a valid form of identification for students who wished to vote in the midterm election. Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB 323 into law in April, and the law took effect June 2.

The law's reach proved more contested than it first appeared. A state law restricting student IDs as a primary form of identification was one thing; the bigger dispute was over a separate "safety valve" in New Hampshire election law. That safety valve allows voters to attempt to prove their identity through other means, and the fight at the Supreme Court was about whether, in those circumstances, student IDs could be used as one factor, along with other evidence, to help officials identify people requesting a ballot.

In an order earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante declined to block the provision of HB 323 that removed student IDs from the forms of identification expressly valid to obtain a ballot, but he barred the state from enforcing a directive issued by Secretary of State David Scanlan in April "to the extent it prohibits or discourages election officials from considering student IDs as evidence of voter identity" under the safety-valve provision.

Laplante issued that preliminary injunction on October 2, after a voting advocacy group, Open Democracy, sued to block the law. After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit turned down the state's request to pause Laplante's ruling, Secretary Scanlan came to the Supreme Court.

The justices granted an emergency request by the state, which was backed by the Republican National Committee. The practical effect: potential voters cannot use student IDs as backups when they seek to establish their identities.

What the dissent says

Jackson was blunt. "I would not disturb a clearly justifiable federal court order issued to ensure that the public receives accurate information about a State's electoral processes," she wrote.

She pushed back specifically on the majority's application of Purcell. Jackson questioned whether it made sense to apply the Purcell doctrine at all. In this case, she said, the lower court didn't change anything about the law the state enacted but rather only changed the state's interpretation of that law. "This so-called 'Purcell principle' arose in a particular context, and this court has yet to fully define its limits," Jackson wrote.

Jackson argued that U.S. District Judge Laplante had merely "issued a targeted order" that was "reasonably designed to address alleged misinformation, not to change the law."

The Senate race backdrop

New Hampshire is not just any state on the November 3 ballot. The ballot includes a closely watched Senate race that could play a key role in deciding control of the chamber: Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu is pitted against Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas for the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

It is the first open Senate election in New Hampshire since 2010. Republicans have not won a Senate election in the state since that race. Young voters who attend college in New Hampshire and lack a driver's license or passport now have fewer options at the counter.

The sponsor of HB 323 framed the court's action as vindicating the legislature's intent. New Hampshire state Rep. Donald McFarlane, who sponsored the bill, said the decision "allows HB 323 to work as intended: strengthening voter identity verification, applying a consistent standard, and maintaining public confidence in New Hampshire elections."

Republican state lawmakers passed the law arguing that it would close off the potential for voter fraud using false or out-of-date student ID cards, while opponents said the restriction would deprive some young voters without passports or drivers licenses with an easy means to vote, and potentially disenfranchise those who could not get to the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Trump signs housing order the same day

The voting ruling was not the only significant federal action on Thursday. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the costs of single-family home ownership and mortgages, the White House said.

The order instructs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to launch a pilot program that would proactively cancel borrowers' mortgage insurance premiums once they meet equity requirements based on current market value, and to make permanent an FHFA pilot waiving title insurance on refinancings.

The order also creates a Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, which FHFA Director Bill Pulte and HUD Secretary Scott Turner will co-chair, and requires the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs secretaries to lower interest rates for single-family home loans issued through their departments.

The timing was deliberate. Trump signed the order less than two weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, with the White House saying the president "is lowering the costs of single-family homeownership and mortgages, and removing unnecessary red tape to make homeownership more affordable for all Americans."

Borrowing costs are elevated. The average 30-year mortgage rate has soared above 7 percent; it dipped this week for the first time since mid-August, falling from 7.4 percent to 7.32 percent, according to Freddie Mac data. The average 15-year mortgage rate also decreased week over week, from 6.71 percent to 6.68 percent.

The order would direct the Federal Housing Finance Agency to create a pilot program limited to future mortgages, potentially saving some borrowers money in cases where their home values have sufficiently appreciated. The FHFA regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled companies backing more than half the U.S. residential mortgage market.

What to Watch

• Whether the Coalition for Open Democracy pursues a merits appeal through the First Circuit before November 3, and whether any court acts on it with the Purcell clock now running harder against them.
• How New Hampshire election officials operationalize the full bar on student IDs in the 12 days remaining; Secretary of State Scanlan's office will have to re-train poll workers who were briefed under Laplante's now-paused injunction.
• The Sununu-Pappas Senate race, with control of the chamber potentially hinging on turnout among college-age voters who will now need a government-issued ID they may not carry.
• Whether the FHFA moves quickly to publish the mortgage insurance pilot program in the Federal Register, which would signal how many existing borrowers might ultimately qualify.
• Jackson's full dissent text, which the New Hampshire Bulletin noted was not immediately available Thursday evening; the written opinion will sharpen the legal debate over where Purcell's limits actually lie.

Sources: SCOTUSblog | CNN | NBC News | UPI | New Hampshire Bulletin | Fox 9/AP | White House fact sheet | Bloomberg | Real Estate News