Republican-controlled States Target College Students’ Voting Power Ahead of High-Stakes 2024 Elections

Republican-controlled legislatures around the country have moved to erect new barriers to voting for high school and college students in what state lawmakers describe as an effort to clamp down on potential voter fraud. Critics call it a blatant attempt to suppress the youth vote as young people increasingly bolster Democratic candidates and liberal causes at the ballot box. As turnout among young voters grows, new proposals that change photo ID requirements or impose other limits have emerged. Laws enacted in Idaho this year, for instance, prohibit the use of student IDs to register to vote or cast ballots.