WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal court today granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Indiana’s Senate Bill 10, which represented a sea change in Indiana’s voter ID laws, banning the use of student ID cards—and only student ID cards—for voting. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young, requires the state to once again accept student IDs that otherwise meet Indiana’s criteria for a valid voter ID at the polls.
Elias Law Group attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 10 in May 2025 on behalf of Count US IN, Women4Change Indiana, and Josh Montagne, a student at Indiana University Bloomington. On behalf of the plaintiffs, Elias Law Group argued that the law likely imposes an unconstitutional burden on students and young voters, and the court agreed.
For nearly two decades, Indiana accepted student ID cards issued by public universities as a valid form of voter identification. Senate Bill 10, enacted in April 2025, singled out student IDs as the only previously accepted form of identification to be barred from use at the polls. The court found that the law would burden approximately 40,000 students and young voters across the state.
“As the court said today, Senate Bill 10 looks more like a solution in search of a problem. This ruling is a victory for the tens of thousands of Indiana students whose right to vote was under attack for no good reason,” said Elias Law Group partner Aria Branch. “Indiana has accepted student IDs at the polls for nearly 20 years without a single documented case of fraud or abuse, which is why there is no legitimate justification for this law that singles out student voters.”
“This ruling is a victory for every student in Indiana who could have lost their right to vote because of Senate Bill 10,” said Jalyn Radziminski-Hooks, Executive & Lead Policy Director of Count US IN. “This law was never about election integrity — it was about silencing the voices of young Hoosiers who want to hold their elected representatives accountable at the ballot box. Count US IN will continue fighting to ensure that every young voter in Indiana has a chance to participate in the political process. Our voices matter, as today’s ruling demonstrates.”
In a 34-page opinion, Judge Young rejected the state’s justifications for eliminating student IDs as an accepted form of voter ID, emphasizing that “[s]tudents are the only group that are told that their widely held, government-issued ID cannot be used to vote.”
During Indiana’s upcoming May 4 primary election, students and young voters will once again be able to use student IDs that meet the rest of the law’s existing requirements.
Click HERE to read the full order.
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