In the wee hours of Friday morning, the GOP-controlled Texas House passed the nation’s most recent voter suppression bill, reigniting calls for U.S. Senate Democrats to abolish the filibuster and pass the For the People Act to nullify state-level attacks on the franchise.
“It’s old Jim Crow dressed up in what our colleagues are calling election integrity.”
—State Rep. Jessica González
A version of the measure, Senate Bill 7, is expected to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Despite the opposition of voting rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Texas—who, according to the Austin American-Statesman, drew up more than 100 amendments to challenge provisions in S.B. 7 “they believed would make it more difficult to vote, particularly for nonwhite Texans and those with disabilities who require help to cast a ballot”—Republicans in the state House advanced the bill on an 81-64 party-line vote that took place just after 3 a.m. local time.
Nearly 20 amendments were successfully added to the bill, including ones that modified some racist language, limited criminal […]