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A pair of voter advocacy groups have sued the state over a controversial new law that prohibits the use of college IDs as a form of identification at the polls.
Count US IN and Women4Change filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis challenging the new law.
Gov. Mike Braun signed Senate Enrolled Act 10 into law in April, which prohibits the use of student IDs to vote.
The lawsuit has been filed against Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales, Chair of the Indiana Election Commission Paul Okeson, Vice-Chair of the Indiana Election Commission Suzannah Overholt, members of the Indiana Election Commission Karen Celestino-Horseman and Litany Pyle, Co-Directors of the Indiana Election Division J. Bradley King and Angela Nussmeyer, and the Monroe County Board of Elections.
“Count US IN is proud to challenge Indiana’s Student ID Ban, which is a deliberate and targeted attack on the fundamental rights of young voters across Indiana,” Count US IN stated in its announcement.
Count US IN is described in the lawsuit as a Black-led, disability-led, non-partisan, non-profit corporation based in Fort Wayne.
Women4Change is a non-profit corporation based in Indianapolis.
Since 2005, Hoosiers have been able to vote with a photo ID.
The complaint seeks injunctive relief of the law to allow college students to use their student IDs to vote.
Further, the complaint alleges the law violates the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, along with the First and 14th Amendments.
According to the lawsuit, the election supervisor for Monroe County—home to Indiana University Bloomington, which has an enrollment of nearly 50,000 students—estimated that two-thirds of students used student IDs to vote at the on-campus polling place in the 2024 general election.
Josh Montagne, a sophomore at Indiana University Bloomington, is named a plaintiff in the case along with the two organizations.
Montagne, 20, has used his student ID to vote in the Hoosier state three times.
He does not have an Indiana driver’s license or ID, doesn’t have a car and walks as his primary mode of transportation.
“As a result, the Student ID Ban makes it harder for him to vote,” the complaint states.
SEA 10 is set to go into effect on July 1 unless Southern District Court Judge Richard Young decides to enjoin the law.
The plaintiffs are represented by Jeffrey Macey with Macey Swanson LLP in Indianapolis. Macey did not immediately respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment.
The bill’s author, Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Goshen, said the legislation’s aim is to make sure elections are safe.
“It is of the utmost importance that Indiana elections are secure and fair. If someone wants to vote in Indiana, they need to be a resident and have the proper identification to prove who they are,” Doriot said. “This legislation aims to assure Hoosiers that our elections are safe. The intention is not to restrict people from voting, rather it is to ensure only those who live in Indiana can vote in Indiana elections.”
The case is Count US IN, et al. v. Diego Morales, et al., 1:25-cv-864.
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