An Indiana University junior is front and center in a voting rights lawsuit against an Indiana law. Josh Montagne, a political science student, joined a lawsuit against Diego Morales, Indiana’s secretary of state, last May.
The court is expected to release a preliminary response to filings from both sides of the case before Indiana’s May 5 primary election.
Background of the case
The lawsuit deals with Senate Enrolled Act 10, a law passed by Indiana’s General Assembly in 2025 and signed into law by Gov. Mike Braun last April. Now known as Public Law 70, it prohibits the use of university-issued student identification cards as a form of valid identification when voting.
Montagne and the lawsuit’s other plaintiffs, nonpartisan advocacy groups Count Us IN and Women4Change Indiana, argue in the lawsuit that the ban targets young student voters, thus violating the First, 14th and 26th Amendments.
The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, commonly understood to include the right to vote. The 14th Amendment required states to treat individuals equally under the law, making discrimination based on race, gender, age and other demographic classifications. The 26th Amendment established the legal voting age as 18.
The prior version of Indiana’s photo ID law enacted in 2005 allowed state public university and college students to use school-issued IDs to vote, as long as the they met the general voter ID requirements: that it contains the voter’s name and photograph, an expiration date and was issued by the United States or Indiana. The law has now been amended to reflect the recent change.
Morales, a proponent of the legislation and the state’s chief election official, argued student IDs are not a secure and uniform form of ID. To secure elections, Morales said, students should instead use an Indiana driver’s license or state-issued ID.
“Voting is a sacred right, and it must be safeguarded through consistent and reliable security standards,” Morales wrote in a May press release. “Senate Enrolled Act 10 ensures that every ID used at the polls is secure and reinforces my promise that only eligible Hoosiers are voting in our state.”
Morales’ office did not respond to requests for comment.
Montagne, originally from Missouri, is an out-of-state IU student who registered to vote in Indiana in 2023, according to court documents. He voted three times in Indiana: during the 2023 municipal election and the 2024 primary and general election.
College students can choose to register to vote either where they live at school or at home.
Montagne and the other plaintiffs, Count Us IN and Women4Change Indiana, all declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.
How are students reacting?
Junior Isaac Chapman-Whitehead is the president of IU’s chapter of College Democrats. He views the ban on student IDs as a “targeted, surgical attack” on otherwise eligible voters, fearing that students who have previously used their CrimsonCard to vote will be unaware of the change prior to voting.
“We're gonna see a lot of students that are turned away from the polls, at least initially,” he said.
Chapman-Whitehead said he and other members of College Democrats help educate students about voting rights and often help students register to vote through tabling events.
He said that students fill out a federal registration form and submit the last four digits of their Social Security card in lieu of a state-issued ID. The form is then taken to the county voter registration office to finalize the student as a Monroe County voter.
“A CrimsonCard goes into none of that,” Chapman-Whitehead said. “It's not even about that scrutiny, making sure that people have the proper ID. So folks, they're already registered to vote in Indiana. Now the state is just blocking them from being able to comply with our voter ID laws.”
IU sophomore Reef Snodgrass is a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at IU and other civic organizations at the university. He knows Montagne and remembers what discussions were like when Montagne was deciding whether to join the lawsuit or not.
“I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to join this lawsuit as a college student,” Snodgrass said. “It's a difficult decision because obviously any legal battle, especially something that might go to like, federal court, is something that's extremely daunting.”
Snodgrass said Montagne has “personally been disenfranchised” by the bill. Because he is an out-of-state student, doesn’t have an Indiana driver’s license and has used his student ID to vote, Montagne represents “what was needed for the lawsuit,” Snodgrass said.
College Republicans at IU President Dillon Burns referred the Indiana Daily Student to a February 2025 press release from the club.
The release was published as the ban began to receive traction within the Indiana Senate, with the club coming out in support of the bill and one of its authors — Sen. Blake Doriot, R-District 12.
“As a group of conservative students in college, we believe in the right of every citizen of the United States to be able to vote,” Burns wrote in the release. “But it's crucial that people vote lawfully, and that we take necessary measures to continue to secure our elections and make them even safer. SB 10 does just that, and the College Republicans at IU are proud to support it.”
What’s next?
The most recent update in the almost-year long lawsuit was an injunction denial request from the Indiana Attorney General’s Office last month.
The denial request was in response to a preliminary injunction request filed by the plaintiffs in February. In it, the plaintiffs requested the court allow usage of student IDs for Indiana’s May 5 primary election.
The court has not issued a response to either but is expected to do so prior to the Indiana primary May 5.
A status conference in the case is scheduled for June 9. The case is expected to officially go to trial in January 2027.
As of now, IU students are unable to use student IDs to vote. Indiana voters are able to register to vote in the primaries until April 6.
Voter registration resources are available here.
