Passing a voter identification law has been a priority for Republicans in Concord, but the House and Senate differed on how tough to make its requirements. The Senate supported accepting college IDs, for instance. The Senate also wanted to allow people to vote without identification if local election officials knew who they were. The House meanwhile favored allowing only government-issued IDs. It also favored to force voter without IDs to have their picture taken before getting a ballot.
In the end, both sides got some of what they wanted.
Under the compromise, for this year’s elections the Senate plan will be law, but after that the House’s requirements would kick in. Last year, the Republican-dominated legislature passed a different photo-id law. It was vetoed by Governor Lynch.
