Texas governor revives GOP’s thwarted new voting laws

| July 14, 2021 | LOCAL, NEWS | No Comments
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FILE – In this Wednesday, March 17, 2021, file photo, Texas Gov Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference about migrant children detentions, in Dallas. Texas child welfare officials say they’ve received three reports of abuse and neglect at a San Antonio coliseum that is holding more than 1,600 immigrant teenagers who crossed the southern border. Child welfare officials would not reveal details about who made the allegations, but Abbott said his understanding was that they came from someone who had been inside the facility. One of the allegations include sexual abuse, but no further details were provided. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

By PAUL J. WEBER and ACACIA CORONADO

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday revived the GOP’s thwarted efforts to pass new voting laws in America’s biggest red state after Democrats temporarily derailed a restrictive bill with a late-night walkout in the state Capitol in May.

As expected, Abbott made new election laws one of nearly a dozen items — including border security and other GOP lightning rod issues — that he is instructing lawmakers to revisit over the next 30 days in a special session that begins Thursday. Some Republicans say they expect to see many of the sunken bill’s provisions return. Democrats say they plan to show up Thursday to see what is on the table.

The two-term governor, who is up for reelection next year and has not ruled out a presidential run in 2024, offered no immediate guidance about what changes he wants in Texas’ elections laws. But already, Republicans are backing away from the two most contentious issues that fueled Democrats’ dramatic quorum break just before a midnight deadline over the Memorial Day weekend.

He also ordered lawmakers to restore funding for Texas’ legislative branch after vetoing paychecks for roughly 2,000 Capitol employees following the walkout.

“These Special Session priority items put the people of Texas first and will keep the Lone Star State on a path to prosperity,” Abbott said.

Democratic State Representative John Bucy said he was frustrated looking at the session’s agenda, in which he said Abbott “clearly isn’t putting the people of Texas first.”

“These are items that primarily are designed for him to play to an extreme far-right as he gears up for a competitive primaries season,” Bucy said.

The GOP’s overwhelming majority in the Texas Capitol means an elections bill will probably pass, although Democrats have vowed to continue fighting and have not ruled out breaking quorum again.

Republican State Representative Jacey Jetton, who helped negotiate the state’s previous omnibus voting bill, known as Senate Bill 7, said he was hopeful that items related to mail “ballot harvesting” — a term sometimes used negatively to describe the collection completed ballots that are delivered on behalf of voters to polling places — voter roll maintenance, preventing fraud by voter assistance, and where and when people can vote will be included in this session’s election integrity legislation.

“The Senate and the House are both eager to work on this issue and get it done,” Jetton said.

Jetton said he wasn’t sure how this session’s voting legislation would look, but many of the original elements of Senate Bill 7 “found a lot of agreement, at least among Republicans,” in both chambers. He said he expected “a number of these elements will come back in some form or fashion,” and that he hoped members of both parties could examine the new legislation without partisanship to find some common ground.

Meanwhile, Bucy said the Texas House Democrats have already seen their May walkout “pay dividends,” citing recently announced promises from the Texas Senate to leave out provisions limiting Sunday voting hours and lowering the threshold to overturn election results. He said he plans to be present with his Democratic colleagues on the first day to work in committee and as a chamber to negotiate the election-related legislation. Democrats have said they are keeping all options open this summer and have not ruled out breaking quorum again.