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Texas Democrats on Saturday again denied Republicans in the State House the quorum necessary to begin a second special legislative session, which Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called this week in his latest attempt to pass a bill. GOP-backed election law aimed at enforcing a general vote. restrictions.
The exact fate of more than 50 House Democrats who fled the state to Washington, DC last month to protest the Election Bill was unclear on Saturday, but the Associated Press reported that not enough lawmakers showed up in person in Austin on Saturday to conduct official business.
“There is no quorum,” Republican State House of Representatives Speaker Dade Phelan said on Saturday afternoon before adjourning the chamber until Monday, according to the AP.
Abbott earlier this week had called for a new special session to begin on Saturday, a day after the expiration of the first special session without any movement in the House on the GOP vote bill.
The legislation, which was passed by the GOP-led State Senate last month, calls for the implementation of several new restrictions on voting in Texas, including ban 24-hour voting centers, voting facilities in outdoor structures such as parking garages and direct ticket voting.
The bill also calls for limiting the use of drop boxes, which were used extensively during the coronavirus pandemic, as more people voted by mail rather than going in person to polling centers to vote.
Democrats condemned the proposal, arguing that the measures unfairly target minority voters and people with disabilities.
Abbott, who has threatened to continue calling special sessions until the bill is passed, wrote in a tweet Thursday announcing the second special session that the Texas legislature “must complete the work that has been started.” .
Texas Democrats have made no firm commitments on how they plan to oppose the GOP bill, with the possibility that lawmakers may return to the State Capitol before the conclusion of the Second Session, which should last 30 days.
State lawmakers have said any decision will largely depend on progress in ongoing efforts to help Congress pass federal voting rights legislation, which continues to face Republican obstruction in the Senate.
Those efforts were complicated when a group of Democrats who fled to the nation’s capital tested positive for COVID-19, fueling security concerns, especially amid the rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
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