Lone Star State lawmakers put Texas-sized pressure on Washington Democrats over voting rights
CNN
Nearly two dozen Democratic members of the Texas state Legislature are taking their voting rights fight from Austin to Washington this week.
The trip is a "Hail Mary" effort of sorts, to apply some Texas-sized pressure on US lawmakers to support the passage of the For the People's Act, a comprehensive federal voting rights bill that would counteract many of the voting restrictions put in place by Republicans at the state level. The cross-country blitz comes just weeks after Texas Democrats, in dramatic fashion, notched a rare victory in killing the Republican-controlled Legislature's flagship election overhaul bill, Senate Bill 7, by walking off the state House floor as the clocked ticked down on the 2020 session. The move left the Republican majority without the quorum they needed to approve the bill this session in the final hours before a midnight deadline. The state's Republican governor, who claimed the bill improved election security, has vowed to call a special session to bring the contents of SB7 back for a vote later this year, sparking a renewed effort by Texas Democrats to push for federal intervention.
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