So Idaho legislators want to go on a voter suppression spree: Bring it on | Opinion

From egregious statements about our teachers to attacks on LGBTQ+ youth to silencing student voices in House committees, many Republican legislators are working hard to alienate young voters this session. But if you think these politicians are worried that Gen Z will hold them accountable for their actions, you’d be mistaken. The far-right does in fact have a long-term contingency plan: voter suppression.

Recently, two bills were introduced to make it more difficult to vote in our state: Rep. Tina Lambert’s, R-Caldwell, House Bill 54 would ban the use of student IDs and personal identification affidavits as accepted forms of voter ID at the polls. Rep. Joe Alfieri’s, R-Coeur d’Alene, House Bill 75 would end no-excuse absentee ballots, which 129,000 Idahoans used to vote in November alone.

It’s worth noting that, when introducing her bill, Rep. Lambert claimed that Oregonians were crossing the border to vote in her district. One might ask how politicians like Alfieri and Lambert so easily claim that other elections are fraudulent but that they themselves were fairly elected. This hypocrisy, while mind boggling, is just a staple of Idaho’s supermajority politics.

Based on Trump’s Big Lie, House Bills 54 and 75 threaten to undermine the system of free and fair elections that has functioned in our state for over a century. These bills propagate dangerous conspiracy theories that weaken Idahoans’ trust in local government and delegitimize elected officials. In my view, Lambert and Alfieri make a strong case for gun control: by advancing these bills, the Idaho legislature is essentially shooting itself in the foot.

Regardless of the culture war rhetoric about a rigged election, the ultimate goal of this latest slew of anti-democratic legislation is to disenfranchise young voters. In Idaho and across the country, my generation is the least likely to vote. During the last presidential election, just 54% of Idahoans ages 18 to 24 turned out to the polls. This compares to an overall voter turnout of 64%. There are various institutional factors that contribute to this disparity. Namely, it’s that students attending out-of-state colleges and young renters who move more frequently between houses are less able to access election information and participate in state politics.

Despite these barriers, it’s no question that young voters are a political powerhouse. Gen Z and Millennials account for over half of eligible voters in the United States. Funded by big money interests, far-right politicians have spent their careers attacking public education, denying climate change and violating bodily autonomy — all issues that my generation disproportionately cares about. Now, corporate conservative think tanks seek to hold onto power for as long as possible. And they have legislators like Lambert and Alfieri to carry their copycat bills to do so.

Obviously voter suppression is a bummer, but the most pathetic thing about this strategy (and, one could argue, the Idaho legislature as a whole) is that it doesn’t even work. While great despots of history consolidated power in authoritarian regimes often without taking a nickel from the proletariat, we pay Idaho legislators $20,000 per year (yes, Rep. Skaug, high school students pay taxes, too) and the only method they can think up to consolidate power is to hinder their own growth prospects.

Across the country, voter suppression legislation has backfired on the Republican Party time and time again. According to the AP, prior to COVID, 40% of mail ballots were cast by people who had voted in a GOP primary, compared to 27% cast by Democratic primary voters. Similarly, a 2022 study at USC found that while access to absentee voting does increase voter turnout, even in the 2020 election, models suggested absentee voting skewed Republican. An analysis at the University of Virginia found no party advantage promoted by voter ID requirements. And the backlash over the nation’s most stringent Big Lie voter suppression bill, Georgia’s SB 202, may very well have gotten Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Osoff reelected.

Far-right politicians never seem to learn (maybe that’s why so many of them oppose education funding). While Lambert and Alfieri’s voter suppression legislation represents a very clear attack on the democratic traditions of our state, it won’t stop the youth vote in 2024. So while all Idahoans should stand up and defend our right to vote, my message to anti-democratic legislators is simple: Bring. It. On.

Shiva Rajbhandari, 18, is a senior at Boise High. He co-leads BABE VOTE, a nonprofit, nonpartisan voter advocacy organization, and is a voice for youth representation in Idaho politics.