‘This is voter disenfranchisement’: Dozens of Ada County residents affected by voter ID law
A year-old voter identification law in Idaho has made it more onerous for some residents to register to vote, preventing dozens of voters in Ada County from voting in this year's election so far.
Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple told the Idaho Statesman on Monday by phone that he estimates upwards of 100 people so far in Ada County's early voting have been unable to register to vote because of the new requirements. Election Day is Tuesday; Idaho allows same-day voter registration.
"It feels like I am denying legitimate citizens who have proved residency the ability to vote because of this strict ID requirement," Tripple said. He said he's seen the problem affecting people who have recently moved into a senior home, or others who have recently moved to Idaho from another state.
"They really want to vote and they just don't have the ability to do that, even though they can prove their citizenship and their residence," he said. "That's the hurdle I've seen has been artificially built now."
In 2023, Idaho lawmakers passed House Bill 340 , which changed a range of voter documentation requirements, including removing student IDs as a valid form of identification at the polls. The new law also allows voters to obtain a free ID from the state if they do not have a driver's license. The law requires registering voters to meet a two-pronged documentation requirement: prove their identity and prove their residency. One of the changes is that the state now only accepts valid Idaho driver's licenses, whereas previously voters could register with an out-of-state driver's license along with documentation proving they now reside in Idaho, Tripple said.
Without a passport or another form of federal photo ID, their out-of-state license or expired Idaho license is not sufficient. And a resident who has moved into a senior-living facility must re-register because of the address change but may not have an active license.
"I don't think not having a current Idaho driver's license should be the impediment to them voting," Tripple said.
For some residents, the problem could be solved by getting an Idaho driver's license. For instance, a voter who has a copy of their birth certificate, an out-of-state driver's license and proof of residency (a rental agreement, pay stub or bank statement with their current address, etc.) has the documentation needed to get an in-state driver's license. But if they only realized the problem in the past few days, they likely were out of luck — the DMV in Ada County operates by appointment only , and, as of Monday night, was booked out for more than a week past Election Day.
"The intent behind some of the legislators that pushed this ... was to simplify and standardize (the process), but we're now seeing that this isn't as simple as some people thought it would be," said Tripple, who is a Republican.
The bill's sponsors were Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow; Rep. Joe Palmer, R-Meridian; and Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane.
McGrane told the Statesman by phone that, "We are anticipating this could be a challenge for some voters (on Election Day), specifically who moved to the state recently."
He said that in 2023 he initially supported and helped draft a different bill, House Bill 126 , which made similar voter registration changes but would have still allowed residents to register to vote using an out-of-state driver's license. That bill did not pass and was replaced with House Bill 340, which removed the out-of-state IDs. McGrane supported House Bill 340, too. He said he thinks the state should accept out-of-state driver's licenses to prove a person's identity, because they have already gone through a similar process in another state. But he said some lawmakers have different opinions about "what are the obligations for someone when they move to Idaho," and how quickly they should be expected to get a new ID card.
"There are some who feel like if you want to be an Idahoan, you need to take certain steps," he said. "I think that can easily be a reasonable debate that continues."
McGrane said that the Idaho Transportation Department has issued hundreds of free ID cards, and that the state is working to balance election security and access to the ballot box.
'We warned legislators. ... They passed the law anyway'
After House Bill 340 and another voting law passed in 2023, the voter advocacy groups Babe Vote and the League of Women Voters sued the secretary of state, arguing that the changes infringed on residents' voting rights. In April, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision denying the groups' contentions . A federal judge in September upheld the state's laws in a separate lawsuit .
Sam Sandmire, a spokesperson for Babe Vote, told the Statesman by phone that she was not surprised that some residents have been affected by the law.
At voter registration events held by Babe Vote on college campuses in recent weeks, Sandmire said, between 20% and 35% of people who tried to register could not do so "because of these new laws."
"We knew from other states that when you put restrictions on the types of IDs that can be used to register and/or vote, that some legally eligible voters become unable to vote," she said. "We warned legislators in testimony before they passed the law that this would be an issue. They passed the law anyway."
In response, McGrane said the dismissal of both lawsuits "reflects the thoughtful nature we've taken" with the changes.
Mitchell and Palmer did not respond to requests for comment.
"This is definitely voter disenfranchisement," Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, told the Statesman by phone. "By making technical rules and not providing the staff to address the issues that are preventing Idahoans from voting."
Tripple said that some of the people initially turned away during early voting may have returned later with a current passport, but he expects the number of people affected by the recent law and left unable to vote will grow throughout Election Day.
"What's really disheartening is they stand in line for two hours, then they get to the front and they realize they don't have what they need to register to vote," Tripple said.
