Many laws are made to be effective at the start of the calendar year, so a few high-profile Idaho laws went into effect Monday. Here are two that will impact Boise.
House Bill 124, Banning Student ID as Voter ID
According to Campus Vote Project, Idaho is one of 35 states with some voter ID laws in place, and one of 19 that allow voters without an ID to sign a personal identification affidavit or otherwise verify their identity.
But as of this week, Idaho does not allow student ID cards to be used as voter ID at polling places. Sen. Scott Herndon (R-Sagle) sponsored the bill during the 2023 legislative session, calling it an “election integrity bill.” No cases of voter fraud involving student IDs have ever been reported in Idaho.
Babe Vote and the League of Women Voters of Idaho sued the state, saying that the law unconstitutionally impedes students’ ability to vote. The advocacy groups were dismissed by a district court judge but appealed to the state Supreme Court, which will likely issue a decision early this year.
House Bill 149, the ‘Clean Slate Act’
Democratic legislators in Idaho often have much more luck passing bills with a Republican co-sponsor, and that’s what happened with the so-called “Clean Slate Act.”
Minority Leader Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) and Sen. Dave Lent (R-Idaho Falls) added Idaho to the list of 43 states that allow a citizen to seal part of their criminal record.
The new law has detailed limits: Only non-assault or non-violent misdemeanor offenses can be sealed, and only one at a time. The offense must have been committed five years prior to the sealing, and all fines and probation periods must have been met or ended.
Even with strict limits, Rubel and Lent hoped to remove some barriers to finding housing or getting a job. Any Idahoan who is now eligible to have their criminal record sealed because of this law must file a petition to do so.
