After 9 hours of debate, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved the voter ID law in a 72-62 vote, sending it to the Senate where Republicans also hold a majority, Reuters reported. The state legislature could end up bypassing Gov. Mark Dayton’s approval.
The vote pushes Minnesota along with a national movement by Republican state legislatures to enact voter ID laws. Republicans claim the laws are meant to prevent voter fraud. Democrats claim it’s meant to keep their voters away from the polls come election time, including students, the elderly and the homeless.
Texas, Wisconsin, Kansas and Pennsylvania already have photo ID laws for voting, though judges have blocked their enactment in the former two states. Thirty states have laws requiring at least some kind of identification to vote.
