The state Senate agreed Wednesday to permit residents to register to vote and cast a ballot immediately before an election. The vote came one day after a dustup in a committee when the state auditor reported potential voter problems but said he didn't have enough evidence to delay the bill again.

With limited debate, the Senate voted 33-15 in favor of the same-day registration bill, which supporters said would boost voter turnout and encourage participation in the democratic process, particularly among young people.

"They need to be enfranchised and we need to empower these men and women so that they can be ... active citizens," said Sen. Larry Shaw, D-Cumberland, the leading Senate proponent of the measure, which passed the House in March.

Residents would be allowed to go to one-stop voting sites, where they already can vote early, and register and then vote right away in the final 2 1/2 weeks before an election. State law now ends voter registration 25 days before an election.

Voter turnout was 64 percent of registered voters for the 2004 general election and 37 percent in 2006, according to the State Board of Elections. Turnout could increase by 5.4 percentage points if the same-day voting registration in the early voting period is implemented, according to Demos, an advocacy group seeking election reforms.

Opponents, mostly Republicans, have said the identification requirements in the bill were too lax, allowing prospective voters to show a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck "or other government document" as proof of the person's current address.

But four GOP members joined Democrats in voting for the bill, which now returns to the House to consider whether to accept the Senate changes.

Democrats cut off debate after passing an amendment by Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, that would require registration forms and ballot to be printed only in English, except where federal law requires differently.

"They want ballot access but they won't have debate access," said Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie, in complaining about the abbreviated debate.

Bob Hall, research director with the campaign finance reform group Democracy North Carolina, supports the bill but complained that the English-only voting documents could discourage U.S. citizens who know English but prefer to read Spanish.

"It's like they're trying to score political points," Hall said. "It's all political posturing."

Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg, said the bill had been examined many times already, most recently Tuesday when a committee heard from State Auditor Les Merritt, who discussed preliminary findings of a review of the state's voter rolls.

The preliminary report revealed potential inconsistencies, but the State Board of Elections said Merritt's early findings were based on faulty assumptions.

Merritt had persuaded Senate leaders to delay floor debate on the bill earlier this month, but he said Tuesday he had nothing to provide senators to persuade them to hold up the bill longer.