Governor signs new GOP voting restrictions into law
TYLER, TEXAS — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an elections overhaul into law Tuesday that adds more voting restrictions in the booming state, after Democrats spent months protesting what they say are efforts to weaken minority turnout and preserve the GOP’S eroding dominance.
Abbott signed the sweeping changes during a ceremony in the East Texas city of Tyler, where the surrounding county went for former President Donald Trump by a more than 2-to-1 margin last year. But it was far closer in Texas overall, with Trump carrying the state by 5½ points, the thinnest margin of victory by a GOP presidential nominee here in decades.
The bill signing again underlined the hard right turn Texas Republicans made this year, including a new state law that took effect last week banning most abortions.
Already, the rewrite of Texas’ voting laws are target of at least three federal lawsuits — including another filed Tuesday — and all contend changes will have a disproportionate impact on minorities. Abbott and other Republicans say it expands access by increasing minimum number of early voting hours, but the law also puts new restrictions on late-night voting.
“I feel extremely confident that when this law makes it through the litigation phase, it will be upheld,” Abbott said. “Because exactly what we’ve said, it does make it easier for people to be able to go vote. No one who is eligible to vote will be denied the opportunity to vote.”