Appeals court allows enforcement of Indiana law banning student ID for voting

On April 20, a federal appeals court ruled that an Indiana law removing student IDs from the list of eligible voter identification could be enforced, overturning a lower court ruling from earlier this month.

The decision from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit allows the law to be enforced for the state’s May 5 primary. Judges Michael Brennan, Michael Scudder, and Joshua Kolar issued an unsigned opinion stating, “We view the risk of disruption to Indiana’s primary election as very serious. In no uncertain terms, the district court’s injunction will alter who can cast a ballot in this election. And this change—imposed unilaterally by a federal court—comes seven days after voting in the election has already begun.”

The appellate court ruling overturned a preliminary injunction issued on April 10 by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young. In issuing the preliminary injunction, Young wrote that plaintiffs were likely to prevail in their arguments that the policy violated the First and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Following Young’s ruling, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) appealed to the Seventh Circuit.

Governor Mike Braun (R) signed SB 10 into law last year. The legislation was passed along party lines in both the state House and state Senate 66-26 and 39-9, respectively.



https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/04/21/the-ballot-bulletin-appeals-court-allows-enforcement-of-indiana-law-banning-student-id-for-voting/