On a largely party line vote Thursday, the N.C. House tentatively passed a bill that would cut North Carolina's early voting period almost in half.

Republican supporters said cutting the 21/2-week period by a week would save money for local governments and for candidates.

Critics said it would reduce turnout, particularly among African-Americans.

"Whether intentional or not, the effect of this measure will be disenfranchisement," state Rep. Kelly Alexander, a Charlotte Democrat, said during the debate. "It will suppress the vote."

Because Democrats objected to a final vote, the bill is expected back on the floor Monday night. But passage is almost certain.

The bill is one of several controversial measures that seek to change the state's voting process.

A Senate bill would shrink the early voting period and end Sunday early voting and so-called "same-day registration" - both of which, supporters say, increase turnout. Other measures would do away with bilingual ballots and require voters to show a photo ID.

Rep. Bert Jones of Rockingham County, a main sponsor of the House bill, argued that it would save money for local election boards and for candidates who could focus their efforts on a shorter period.

"This is clearly not an indictment against early voting," said Jones, the legislature's only unaffiliated member. "I guess the question is, how long is enough? I would just suggest that there's nothing sacred about 21/2 weeks."

In opposing the bill, Democrats invoked Jim Crow laws and other efforts to suppress votes, particularly of minorities who traditionally vote Democratic.

"Why do we need to reduce the voting period unless we want to reduce the number of people who will vote?" said Rep. Larry Hall, a Durham Democrat.

In 2008, black voters who made up about 22 percent of the state's registered voters accounted for 36 percent of those casting ballots on the first day of early voting.

Jones said only 29 percent of early voters in 2008 did so the first week.

"That 29 percent can easily be accommodated in the 11 days left," he said. "To suggest that those (voters) aren't going to vote just because they can't vote three weeks ahead of time, I don't think anybody's buying that."

Early voting has risen steadily in popularity since it was introduced in North Carolina in 2000.

Of the 4.3million votes cast in 2008, 60 percent - or 2.6 million - were cast before Election Day. Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College in Salisbury, said while Democrats used it successfully in 2008, Republicans made even better use last fall.

"The partisan argument is that this only helps one party," he said Thursday. "When I look at the numbers, that just doesn't pan out."

Critics say the bill is a step backward.

"I'm concerned that this new Republican majority is taking a play out of the Democratic majority from long ago, and that is trying to cherry-pick voters," said Damon Circosta, executive director of the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education.

"I hope that's not the case. But it does seem that there's a pattern of making it so that fewer and fewer citizens can participate."