Lawmakers pass bill on voting rules
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas legislature on Tuesday passed the final version of a Republican bill that would implement strict new voting rules, bringing it to the governor’s desk after months of intense partisan battling over how elections should be conducted in the state.
The House approved the measure by a vote of 80 to 41, with one Republican joining Democrats in opposition. The Senate followed several hours later with a party-line vote of 18 to 13.
The votes were a win for Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who had called two special legislative sessions as part of a long-running effort to pass the elections measure.
After the Senate voted, Abbott said in a statement that he looks forward to signing the bill into law, adding that it “will solidify trust and confidence in the outcome of our elections by making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
The passage of the divisive legislation was the latest sign of the impact of former President Donald Trump’s attacks on the integrity of the country’s voting systems, an assault that intensified after his loss in November 2020.
Since then, Republican lawmakers around the country have echoed his baseless claims that there is a significant risk of voter fraud. Texas will join at least 17 other states that have tightened their rules for casting ballots and running elections since Trump’s defeat.
In Texas, supporters of the bill argued it is necessary to restore voter confidence in the state’s elections — even though top state officials said there was no evidence of significant fraud that would have altered the results last year.
Opponents argued the new measure will create new hurdles in the voting process, particularly for the disabled and voters of color. Democrats had succeeded in holding off the legislation since late spring, staging two walk-outs that kept Republicans from securing quorum in three separate legislative sessions.
One by one, Democratic senators stood on Tuesday afternoon in the chamber to voice their opposition to the measure, saying the bill was a product of Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.
“That lie has turned into a cancer in our politics — an existential threat to our democracy. It inspired the insurrection on Jan. 6, and to all of my colleagues who plan to vote for this bill, know that doing so will further a narrative that is leading us toward authoritarianism, violence and the kind of insurrectionist actions that we saw in Washington, D.C.,” said state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat, ahead of the chamber’s vote.
For their part, Republicans emphasized the need for election security, steering clear of mentions of the former president.
“All of these pieces put together will give us a secure system for everybody,” state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican, the bill’s author, said. “It’s a big deal.”
Hughes added: “Anyone who tells you there’s no voter fraud in Texas is telling you a very big lie. We know what happens. The right to vote is too precious. It costs too much for us to leave it unprotected.”
After the vote, fellow Republicans gathered around Hughes and congratulated him.
Texas Democrats said Tuesday’s action intensified the need for Congress to pass stalled federal voting-rights legislation.
“We knew we wouldn’t be able to hold off this day forever,” state Rep. Chris Turner, the House Democratic Caucus chairman, said in a statement. “Now that it has come, we need the U.S. Senate to act immediately to pass federal legislation to protect Texas voters from Republicans’ assault on our democracy.”
House Democrats plan to take legal action as the elections bill becomes law, according to state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat.