Hundreds of BYU-Idaho students angry and disappointed after being turned away at the polls
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REXBURG – Hundreds of Brigham Young University-Idaho students were turned away at the polls Tuesday due to a law passed last year by the Idaho Legislature, Madison County officials said.
Idaho legislators passed House Bill 340 and House Bill 124 in 2023, which went into effect in January. These laws require voters to present an Idaho driver’s license, passport, weapons permit, tribal ID, or federal photo ID at the polls. It also removed student IDs as a valid form of identification at the polls. Before the law changed, voters could also register to vote with an out-of-state driver’s license along with proof of local residency.
An extremely large percentage of Rexburg’s population — over 24,000 students — are currently enrolled on-campus, according to BYU-Idaho officials. Many of them felt blindsided when they went to the polls.
Aubrey Slade is one of those students, even though she tried to do her research before going to the polls.
“My problem really was just that I looked it up and found a lot of sources saying students were able to use their student ID,” Slade said. “But I guess Idaho passed a rule this year you have to have an Idaho license or federal license, which sucks.”
When Slade tried to vote, she brought a North Dakota driver’s license, proof of residency and a student ID. The poll workers turned her away.
“I was pretty bummed. This was the first presidential election I’d be able to vote in, and I was very excited for it,” Slade said.
Madison County Clerk Kim Muir says they have tried to spread the word about the new requirements. They have been on the BYU-Idaho campus and have attended several events with booths that explain the law.
“It’s frustrating when they’re mad at us when we’ve tried to do as much as we can to get that out there,” Muir said. “If they can watch the election laws and go on and check months before the election instead of waiting until the last day, there’s a lot that can be done.”
Muir also points out that those without an Idaho driver’s license could have requested an absentee ballot from their home state.
Despite the new requirements, some students may have slipped through the cracks. Kenzie Clark voted after presenting a Utah driver’s license and her housing lease. She was allowed to vote. When EastIdahoNews.com asked her about it, she was surprised to learn about the requirement change.
“I was not aware of that law change at all,” Clark said. “They said, ‘Alright, you’re good,’ and then I was able to vote.”
Muir says that should not have happened.
“We had 160 poll workers working for us. We spent a whole week training them, going over every item like this,” Muir said. “Our poll workers work really long hours, and are trained very well, but sometimes mistakes are made. Their time is very much appreciated.”
There are some exceptions to the new requirements. Student Rachel Wilcox voted, despite having a Georgia driver’s license.
Wilcox has lived in Rexburg since 2020 and voted in the 2022 elections. When she went to the Madison County Clerk’s Office without an Idaho license or a passport, they gave her a Personal Identification Affidavit to sign. This allows qualified voters to vote if they don’t have an acceptable form of photo identification. This is for voters who are already registered in the county’s system, and is typically used for voters who forgot to bring their license.
Some voters can be grandfathered in to sign an affidavit if they registered to vote with an out-of-state license before the requirements changed. The voter’s address must match the address they used previously. New voters cannot sign a Personal Identification Affidavit.
While many BYU-Idaho students were disappointed with their voting experience, staff at the Madison County Clerk’s Office took an oath to uphold the laws of the State of Idaho, and are committed to fulfill that.
“We tried our very best to help everyone who wanted to vote and honestly, we feel bad about the ones that we couldn’t help and that really wanted to vote because we know that voting is important,” said Brenda Stoor, the Madison County elections director.