A rewrite of election laws in Texas is on the cusp of heading to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The Texas House approved a measure that would put new limits on how and when Texans can vote and make it a crime for election judges to obstruct poll watchers.
The rebuffed proposal followed backlash to the illegal voting arrests of two Texans who said they did not realize the law prohibits people on parole, probation or supervised released from voting. Both voters are Black, which intensified criticism amid a broader fight over voting restrictions that opponents say disproportionately impact people of color.
After the full voting bill cleared, the House approved a resolution that “a person should not be criminally incarcerated for making an innocent mistake.” It passed 119-4.before going to Abbott, who has said he will sign the measure and could do so in the coming days. Democrats twice walked out of the state Capitol to temporarily bock the bill, including a 38-day holdout in one of the longest quorum breaks in Texas history. Not all of the more than 50 Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., in July have agreed to return, and those continuing to hold out have said they felt betrayed by their colleagues.
Republicans say criticism of the bill’s impacts are exaggerated and emphasize it would add an extra hour of early voting daily, as well as expand the number of counties that must offer 12 hours of early voting on weekdays.
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