The Minnesota House plans to bring up a proposed constitutional amendment requiring all voters to show a photo ID at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, House officials said.
House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, said the late-night timing is due to the need for the House to push through its agenda this week before the Easter-Passover break begins on Thursday afternoon.
A House-Senate conference committee approved a compromise version of the bill late Monday. It would require all in-person voters to show a photo ID, would create a new system of provisional ballots, would stiffen eligibility requirements and would require that the ID be "government-issued."
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, the House sponsor, said she is confident that the new language will survive court challenges that have shot down a similar constitutional amendment proposed in the state of Missouri.
Once the House acts, the bill will go to the Senate. If it passes both houses, it goes directly to the Nov. 6 ballot, where voters would be asked this question:
"Should the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require all voters to present valid photo identification to vote and to require the state to provide free identification to eligible voters, effective July 1, 2013?"
DFL foes to the bill said the main effect would be to undermine same-day voter registration and absentee voting, two popular ways of voting in Minnesota.
