Nothing in Indiana’s elections suggested student IDs were a weakness in the system. Yet lawmakers moved earlier this year to ban them anyway, and a federal court is now questioning the logic.

On Oct. 14, U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Indiana students and voting rights groups. The law in question, Senate Bill 10, was passed earlier this year by the Indiana General Assembly and took effect July 1. Young concluded the law places a heavier burden on young voters, who are less likely to have an Indiana driver’s license, the transportation or time to obtain a state ID, or the documentation required by the BMV.

SB 10 has nothing to do with plugging a hole in election safeguards. There was no hole.

For nearly 20 years, student IDs issued by Indiana

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