Democratic lawmakers in Texas made a dramatic move yesterday in the fight over voting rights: They fled the state.
Democratic lawmakers in Texas made a dramatic move yesterday in the fight over voting rights: They fled the state in another last-ditch effort to combat Republican legislation that critics have denounced as voter suppression.
The details: A majority of state House members flew to Washington, D.C., to deny Republicans the quorum they need to convene a special legislative session today in order to pass controversial voting restrictions. Instead of attending that session in Austin, the Democrats are headed for the U.S. Capitol, where they plan to advocate for voter protections at the federal level.
What’s at stake: The Texas bills in question — Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3 — would create more obstacles to mail-in voting and impose bans on 24-hour voting and drive-thru voting. This marks Democrats’ second attempt to block the legislation, but it comes with potential repercussions: Legislators who don’t show up to the House floor can be arrested by state officials.
Stay tuned: The Texas House is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. today, and Republicans have vowed to use “every available resource under the Texas Constitution” to secure a quorum without the out-of-state members. And even if this gambit pays off for Democrats in the short term, Republicans could also revive their election bills in another session that Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call later this year.
Meanwhile, President Biden is expected to make a “moral case” for protecting voting rights in a speech today as other GOP-led states like Georgia and Florida pass their own restrictive voting measures.
