Texas Republicans revive voting restriction bills to begin special session.
The Texas Legislature began a special session Thursday morning that Republicans are promising will allow them to enact new restrictive voting rules intended to prevent fraud.
Both versions of the bill would add criminal penalties for voting law violations and would empower partisan poll watchers.But the two versions have differences. The House bill would allow early voting until 10 p.m., while the new Senate bill proposes ending early voting at 9 p.m., a provision that was criticized for the impact it would have on Black voters and"souls to the polls" efforts. Republicans defended it, but later said it was a typographical error.
“When you look at it overall, it’s still a voter suppression tactic, it’s still a solution looking for a problem,” Fischer said in an interview. “The fact that it’s improved doesn’t change or negate that we shouldn’t be deliberating over this legislation right now.”Opponents of the bills say the quick scheduling undermines the public's ability to offer meaningful input.
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