Democrats in the Texas Legislature bolted on Monday for Washington, and said they were ready to remain there for weeks in a second revolt against a Republican overhaul of election laws, forcing a dramatic new showdown over voting rights in the US.
Private planes carrying more than 50 Democrats left Austin, Texas, for Dulles International Airport at midafternoon, skipping town just days before the Texas House of Representatives was expected to give early approval to sweeping new voting restrictions in a special legislative session.
The numbers meant the House would not have enough lawmakers in attendance to conduct business and could not, at least for now, vote on the bill.
Photo: Reuters
The cross-country exodus was the second time that Democratic lawmakers have staged a walkout on the voting overhaul, a measure of their fierce opposition to proposals they say will make it harder for young people, people of color and people with disabilities to vote. However, like last month’s effort, there remains no clear path for Democrats to permanently block the voting measures, or a list of other contentious Republican-backed proposals up for debate.
Hours after they took off, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, told an Austin television station he would simply keep calling special sessions through next year if necessary, and raised the possibility of Democrats facing arrest upon returning home.
“As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done,” Abbott said.
As they arrived in Washington on Monday evening, the lawmakers said they would not be swayed.
“We are determined to kill this bill,” said Texas Representative Chris Turner, who said he and his colleagues were prepared to run out the clock on a special session that ends early next month.
Democrats’ decision to hole up in Washington is aimed at ratcheting up pressure on US President Joe Biden and Congress to act on voting at the federal level. Biden was set to deliver a major address on the issue yesterday in Philadelphia, after facing growing criticism for taking what some on the left call too passive a role in the fight.
“This is a now-or-never for our democracy. We are holding the line in Texas,” Texas Representative Trey Martinez Fischer said. “We’ve left our jobs, we’ve left our families, we’ve left our homes. Because there is nothing more important than voting rights in America.”
The Texas bills would outlaw 24-hour polling places, banning ballot drop boxes used to deposit mail ballots and empowering partisan poll watchers.
The measures are part of Republicans’ rush to enact new voting restrictions in response to former US president Donald Trump’s false claims that last year’s election was stolen.
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