'Battle-tested' Texas Democrats Ready For Republicans To Try Again On Voting Bill
GOP measure ‘does the exact same thing’ as poll taxes, literacy tests, says former congressman O'Rourke
Texas Democrats aren't under any illusions about the control Republicans exert over state government, but neither are they ready to simply give in when, as expected, Gov Greg Abbott (R) calls a special session to push through a voting-restrictions bill.
Abbott vowed to push for the special session after the voting legislation died Sunday when Democrats walked off and denied Republicans their needed quorum to advance the bill, which Texas Democrats liken to Jim Crow laws.
In fact, Texas is but one state under Republican control working to enact strict new restrictions on voting, usually fueled by former president Donald Trump's “Big Lie” that massive voter fraud cost him his reelection.
“When you say that you can overturn an election based on crazy tropes and racial stereotypes about Texas citizens it’s just absolutely insane that they’re even thinking about that, and so imagine any close race that Republicans wanted to -- to go overturn, they would be able to do so with that provision, and that’s not something that happens in our country, that’s something that you think about happening, you know, in you know, in Zimbabwe or Venezuela or some other country that’s not industrialized and has issues dealing around freedom and democracy, and our country is supposed to be the shining light and beacon of freedom and democracy around the world, and we certainly can’t be a model for others if we are -- are going to turn to third-world suppression voter — voter suppression tactics here in Texas and in other states around the country,” said Congressman Marc Veasey (D-Texas).
Former Democratic Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke specifically called attention to certain provisions of the proposed state law that may even sound somewhat innocuous.
“But I also want to call attention to some of these seemingly innocuous provisions like closing polling places in Texas, or quote/unquote 'standardizing elections.' You know, the poll tax 100 years ago was somewhat innocuous sounding. The -- the literacy test, the -- the counting the number of jelly beans in a jar,” O'Rourke said. “But in every instance they were used to try to stop Black Texans and -- and African-Americans throughout the former confederacy from being able to use their rights to vote. And in that same way, ending ‘souls to the polls’ and closing polling places in predominately African-American neighborhoods is doing the exact same thing in 2021.”
Texas state Rep Trey Martinez-Fischer (D-San Antonio) said that he is thankful for President Biden's opposition to the Texas bill and those like it — and holds out hope for federal intervention.
“Number one, I have hope. And Number Two, you know, I am encouraged by the president of the United States to talk about the situation here in Texas. We know what happened in Georgia. We know what happened in Florida. And if they steamroll us here in Texas, they’re just going to March all across this country until they’ve made it very hard for everyone to vote. And anybody who misses a step is going to go to jail,” said Martinez-Fischer. “This is the right time, with the eyes of the nation watching our democracy, today’s Memorial Day where we honor those who put on the uniform to defend freedom and democracy, but yet those soldiers come home, they wouldn’t be allowed to vote when they went to church because Texas is going to eliminate the ‘Souls to the Polls’ program. This is ripe for federal intervention and I hope our federal leaders are taking notice.”
A Texas special session
Texas Democrats are ready to fight anew should Abbott call a special session to push the Republican voting bill, according to state Rep. Chris Turner, where he serves as the minority leader of the Texas state House of Representatives.
“There is no question Republicans have the votes to pass things, they control the House, the Senate and governor’s office and every statewide office in Texas. But Democrats in the legislature and in the House in particular are determined and we are battle-tested," Turner said. "We know how to fight. And we are used to being outnumbered, but we’re not used to being outworked and we’re not used to being outsmarted.
“And I think that’s what you saw yesterday, is that we use every tool in our toolbox we could to delay the passage of the bill and get it into the place where we had the opportunity to kill it. And that’s what we did,” he added. “You know, we can’t control what Gov. Abbott does in a special session. The governor has that power. That is his prerogative to call a special session.”
A voting-restrictions bill will have to start all over again in any special session, said Turner.
“Well, you know, in a special session, the clock starts over. A special session is 30 days and this bill does not pick up where it left off. The bill from last night is dead. So, the special session, they’ve got to write a new bill and file a new bill,” he said. “It has to go through the committee process and both chambers. So the clock starts over. Again, they have the power, absolutely.
"They could pass anything they want in most circumstances, but it does have to go through the process again. We’ll just have to evaluate the situation as it develops. It’s impossible to predict right now how that will play out,” Turner added.