Justin Bullock, FISM News
Democrat lawmakers returned to Texas on Thursday ending the months long stalemate over new voting reform legislation. With the Texas Democrats return, a quorum will be reached, meaning that the voting reform laws that have been a focus of Governor Abbott will move forward and will likely pass easily.
Republicans across the country have been seeking to reform voting laws in their states due to the controversy surrounding the 2020 presidential election. Texas Republicans introduced a bill that would firm up voting security requirements including revised mail in voting. In response, Texas Democrats engaged in a number of political tactics to delay the bill. Democrats got so desperate to that they abandoned the entire state in order to prevent a quorum and vote.
In response, Republican governor Greg Abbott had called multiple special elections and forced the Texas Democrats to either come back to the state and vote or face criminal charges. Democrats held out for over a month but finally returned on Thursday. The returning Democrats told the press that they were happy to return, as they had achieved the goal of getting the federal government to take up voting reform legislation.
Federal Democratic law makers have taken up the issue of voting reform, but in the opposite direction of Republicans. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday and is expected to pass within the week. This bill has enjoyed the support of all Democrats and even some Republicans. However, the Democrats still hope to pass the For the People Act which is a much more radical voting reform bill . It is unlikely that this bill will pass with any Republican support and even some moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) have expressed opposition to the bill as well.
In any case, the Texas law is expected to pass shortly and be signed into law by Governor Abbott. Whether or not Texas’s new voting rules as well other states’ new voting rules will clash with any new Federal voting law is yet to be seen. If such a conflict does arise then a substantial legal case will likely ensue which will ultimately need to be resolved in the US Supreme Court.