A bill that would require Minnesota voters to present a photo identification card before casting ballots cleared a committee hurdle Thursday morning and will come up for a House hearing later in the day.
The bill was approved by the Senate Transportation Committee, 8-4. The House Government Finance Committee was scheduled to hold its own hearing later in the day Thursday.
The bill which would dramatically overhaul the state's voting procedure, also would eliminate voter vouching for same-day registration, allow some political buttons inside polling places, create "provisional" ballots and nix the "incumbent" ballot label for sitting judges.
Supported by Republicans and conservative activists, it is generally opposed by DFLers and get-out-the-vote activists. During the Senate hearing, Sherry Knuth of the state's League of WOmen Voters called the bill "unnecessary, costly and harmful."
