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Full House to take up photo ID amendment

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Mar 20, 2012 at 5:11 am

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A proposed constitutional amendment to require voters to show photo ID is headed to the floor of the Minnesota House.

The chamber's rules committee advanced the amendment Monday after debate over wording.

Some Democrats on the committee sought to debate a phrase in the statue that said all voters would have to show "substantially equivalent" verification that they're eligible to vote. They worried that could mean absentee voters or military personnel might be kept from voting if they can't somehow show a photo ID.

House Majority Leader Matt Dean restricted debate to whether the language of the amendment was proper.

The committee ultimately approved the measure 13-10 on a straight party-line vote, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.