RALEIGH, N.C. -- House lawmakers took another step to help procrastinators at the polls Wednesday as a committee gave its approval to a bill that would allow North Carolinians to register and immediately vote in the month before an election.

State law currently ends voter registration 25 days before an election. The bill sponsored by Rep. Deborah Ross, D-Wake, would allow people to register and, if they choose, immediately vote at one-stop voting sites.

One-stop sites are open from the first Thursday after the current registration deadline until the Saturday before election day. Registered voters may go to any one-stop site in their county to cast a ballot.

Minnesota state Rep. John Lesch said late registration has been a resounding success in his state, where it lasts until election day, since it began 33 years ago.

"As you get closer to election day, people's concern about the election grows exponentially," said Lesch, a Democrat from Saint Paul. "We believe the republic is healthier when more people vote."

The bill would require prospective voters to show proof of residence and complete a standard voter registration form. The local board of elections would have two days to verify that the person is qualified to vote.

Elections officials said the change would cause little difficulty for their workers. John Gilbert, chairman of the Wake County Board of Elections, said the board voted unanimously to endorse the proposal.

"We see it as our job to do everything we can to facilitate voting for all citizens who are entitled to vote in Wake County," he said.

Rep. Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell, sought to amend the measure to allow already-registered voters to change their party affiliation in the waning days before a primary election, pointing out that many state and local races are decided in the primary.

But the committee rejected the modification. Ross said after the hearing that the point of the bill is to draw in new voters, not accommodate those who are already signed up.

She pointed to data from George Mason University that showed North Carolina ranked 35th among states in turnout for the 2004 presidential election, with 54.6 percent of the eligible voters casting ballots, and 43rd (47.8 percent) for all presidential balloting from 1984 to 2004.

Ross also said allowing the late changes would open up the possibility of political activists manipulating the voting in another party's primary to serve their own interests.