A proposed constitutional amendment that would require Minnesota voters to show a photo ID at the polls is one step away from reaching the Nov. 6 ballot.

The Republican-controlled House passed the GOP bill shortly after midnight Wednesday on a 72-57 party-line vote. If the Republican-led Senate follows suit later today, the amendment would go directly to voters. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton lacks the legal power to veto a constitutional amendment passed by the Legislature.

“The people have asked for it,” said Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea. “We think this will bring integrity to the system. You have to show a photo ID for everything you do in life nowadays.” The voter ID legislation was very popular with the public, he added, with more than 70 percent in favor of it, according to polls.

“The issue is pretty simple: Are you who you say you are when you go to vote,” said House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood.

Republican Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake, said current Minnesota election laws make it “easy to vote, easy to cheat.” She said requiring a photo ID would make it harder to cheat.

But Tuesday night, Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, said the amendment would disenfranchise eligible voters who lack photo IDs. He said this would be the “first time in Minnesota history” that a constitutional amendment would pass on a “100 percent partisan vote.”

Murray said he’s optimistic the bill could pass the Senate as soon as later today. The House and Senate each passed the bill previously, but needed to hammer out differences between the bills in a Conference Committee. The committee adopted a compromise version of the legislation Monday night, and the negotiators finished signing it Tuesday morning.

The question to voters would read: “Shall 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?”

If passed by the Senate, the question would appear on the November ballot with another proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

“Voters will go to the polls in November and will decide whether they want to incorporate this and make that a permanent part of the constitution,” Murray said. Legislators will work on specifics next year if the constitution is amended.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report