Rep. Jon Brien, D-Woonsocket, defends his “voter ID” bill on the House floor Thursday.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE — House lawmakers Thursday OK’d legislation that could make Rhode Island the ninth state requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, a move supporters say could prevent voter fraud and strengthen the election process.

“I want to increase the integrity,” said House sponsor Jon Brien, a Woonsocket Democrat. “I went three days ago and bought a gallon of milk with my debit card and they asked me for a photo ID. But I could walk into my voting precinct and say that I’m anyone and they’d let me vote? It doesn’t make sense.”

Critics believe the law could disenfranchise voters who are old, or poor, and may be less likely to carry driver’s licenses or other forms of identification. It could also create longer Election Day lines at the polls, discouraging busy voters.

If written into law, the measure would call for a ramp-up period. Until 2012, registered voters would be required to bring some form of ID, though photos aren’t necessary. Bus passes and library cards would suffice. So would credit cards.

The idea is to get people accustomed to carrying identification to the polls before the real law takes effect in 2012. At that point, the list of acceptable documents would get slightly shorter and photos become a must. Those who forget their IDs could vote by provisional ballot only.

Dozens of other states have wrestled with voter ID proposals in recent months. Twelve legislatures have voted down the law and an additional 18 are still debating its merits. In nearly all those states, the issue has emerged as strictly partisan, with Democrats attacking a plan they say would dissuade a certain segment of voters –– not coincidently, a demographic that tends to vote Democrat.

In Rhode Island, however, a core group of Democratic lawmakers, Brien among them, has pushed in favor of the initiative.

Both House Speaker William J. Murphy and Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox acknowledging having initial concerns with the ID proposal, but said they came to believe it would shore up the voting process.

“I think if I need to show an ID to board a plane, I should certainly have to [show] some evidence of who I am before I can vote,” Fox said.

After a heated debate that spanned more than 90 minutes Thursday night, House lawmakers approved the bill in a 47-to-24 vote.

A similar proposal has stalled in a Senate committee, raising questions about whether a voter ID bill has sufficient support to become law.

“We have always frowned on laws that place any obstacles on the rights of people to have their sacred vote,” said a vocal House opponent, Rep. Charlene Lima, D-Cranston, citing a common criticism of the bill.

“This is a hassle that we are adding to voters that doesn’t increase the Democratic process, it actually decreases it,” fellow Cranston Democrat Rep. Arthur Handy added.

The proposed Rhode Island law requires the secretary of state to provide free photo identification cards to any voter who wants one.

But Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis’ office has struggled in the past to pay its existing bills. The office ended the last fiscal year roughly $600,000 in debt, according to figures provided by staff, which attributed $350,000 of that shortfall to a delay in election-related grant payments from the federal government. (A Mollis spokesman estimated the office will finish the year that ends June 30 with a small surplus.)

Between the cost of education outreach and the price of printing free IDs for those who need them, spokesman Christopher Barnett said it could cost upwards of $150,000 to implement the proposed ID law. Though much of the bill could be covered by federal funds, he noted.

In a statement released after Thursday night’s vote, Mollis defended the need for such a law.

“The pervasive belief that voter fraud exists undermines the public’s faith in the fairness of our elections,” he said. “Whether voter fraud exists in the court of law or merely in the court of public opinion, the effect is the same — fraud erodes voter confidence.”

Apart from the eight states that currently require photo IDs, 17 more mandate that voters bring some form of identification to the polls. Voting in R.I.

•Under current law voters must state name and address and sign certified voting list but are not required to show ID.

•Under the measure approved by the House Thursday:

 Voters in 2010 would be required to show show some form of ID, such as driver’s license, passport, debit or credit card, birth certificate or Social Security card. State will issue free voter ID cards upon request.

 By 2012, all voters would be required to present a photo ID.

cneedham@projo.com