Texas Democrats may consider another walkout during the state’s special legislative session this month after the outnumbered lawmakers’ walkout in May derailed the Republicans’ controversial voting bill by a midnight deadline in the GOP-led legislature.
The election reform bill is likely to come up in the special session, according to The Texas Tribune.
The previous walkout drew the attention of the White House, with Vice President Kamala Harris meeting with several of the Texas state lawmakers in Washington in June.
This week the lawmakers spoke about why they may employ the tactic again.
“From a caucus perspective, since we’re going into the unknown, we have to keep every option open, which includes denying quorum,” state Democratic Rep. Jessica González of Dallas, vice chair of the House Elections Committee, told The Tribune. “I think a lot of folks want to see what would be in [the elections bill] before making a decision.”
The bill blocked by Democrats would have imposed a raft of election changes that would eliminate drive-thru voting, empower partisan poll watchers and impose new requirements in order to cast a ballot by mail in Texas, which already has some of the toughest voting laws in the nation.
TEXAS HOUSE DEMOCRATS BLOCK VOTING BILL IN DRAMATIC WALKOUT
Republicans weren’t able to vote on the bill because the absent Democrats denied them the necessary quorum to vote.
The bill has the support of Republicans in the state who see it as a common-sense approach to securing election integrity. Democrats see the bill as an attempt to discourage minorities from casting a ballot.
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Lawmakers’ salaries are constitutionally guaranteed but staffers’ salaries are not, meaning Democrats who don’t participate in the special session could risk their staffers’ pay, according to The Tribune.
The special session will begin next Thursday.
Fox News’ Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
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