A controversial Republican-backed draft vote is a further step toward becoming law after several Texas House Democrats returned to the state capital building on Thursday, ending a boycott of more than a month that stopped the legislature.
The state lower house barely reached the quorum Thursday night with 99 members, the exact figure required after the resignation of a San Antonio Democrat that went into effect earlier in the day.
The House only got a quorum because three Houston Democrats returned to the state and a Republican, state Rep. Steve Allison, ran for office a day after testing positive for coronavirus. Allison was left isolated in a room away from the room of the house, according to the Texas Tribune.
The three Democrats who ran had been among about 50 House Democrats who fled to Washington last month to protest a vote-over measure that would make substantial changes to the way Texas conducts its elections. . During his stay in Washington, Texas lawmakers met with top Democrats in Washington to push for a national review of voting rights.
His exodus forced a stalemate during a special session convened by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), which included the review of voting rights in his list of priority measures to be approved for another 30 days in Austin. The state Senate acted on Abbott’s agenda, but the absence of a quorum in the House halted the entire session.
Abbott convened another special session after the first, and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) threatened to arrest the other recalcitrant Democrats and bring her back to the House to reinstate. the quorum.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Democrats could be forced to return to Austin, even if that meant being arrested.
The returning members – state representatives Ana Hernandez (D), Armando Walle (D) and Garnet Coleman (D) – said they were “proud of the heroic work” the Democrats had shown in blocking the bill.
“We brought the fight for voting rights to Washington, DC and drew national attention to our state’s partisan push to weaken access to the polls,” the three said in a statement. “Our efforts were successful and served as the main catalyst to push Congress to take action on federal legislation on voter protection. We now continue the fight on the floor of the house.”
– Ana Hernandez (@AnaHdzTx) August 19, 2021
In private, Texas Democrats recognized that stagnation would always break; Republicans have a narrow majority in the 150-member House of Representatives, but enough to pass their legislative agenda.
Texas law does not put a limit on the number of special sessions Abbott could convene and most members of the House have a second job to supplement their legislative revenue, making it difficult to stay in unscheduled sessions.
The state House only conducted minimal business on Thursday before postponing the weekend. The House is expected to begin examining bills already approved by the state Senate on Monday, including the election review. A state House committee is expected to begin work on the election measure on Saturday.
The bill, which the Senate has passed three times this year, would eliminate polling stations 24 hours a day, ban automatic voting and give new access to poll observers appointed by either party.
Proponents of voting rights have criticized the measure as a solution that seeks a problem, similar to other omnibus measures of electoral reform passed in states like Georgia, Florida and Arizona this year by Republican legislatures.
However, members who support the provisions say they are destined to restore confidence in the election, even though no one has produced evidence of widespread fraud or wrongdoing in the results of last year’s presidential contest, which President Trump
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