Texas State Senate Passes New Republican-Supported Voting Restrictions

Republicans in the Texas Senate on Sunday passed one of the most restrictive voting laws in the United States, which eliminates some forms of voting and includes criminal penalties for election officials.

The bill is expected to arrive at the governor's table this Sunday for his signature.

The broad measure, known as Senate Bill 7, was approved by state senators around 6:00 am,

after eight hours of questioning by Democrats

, who will hardly be able to prevent it from becoming law.

[Republicans in the Senate block the creation of a commission to investigate the assault on the Capitol]

The bill will have to go through a final vote in the Texas House of Representatives before it can reach Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign the law.

"I have serious doubts about a bill that was drafted in the shadows and passed late at night," said Democratic State Senator Beverly Powell.

In revisions made during closed-door negotiations, Republicans added language that could make it easier for

a judge to overturn an election and delay the start of elections on Sunday, 

when many black parishioners often go to the polls after mass.

The 67-page measure also

eliminates car voting and 24-hour voting centers

, which Harris County, the state's largest Democratic stronghold, introduced last year.

[Georgia passes a law restricting access to voting.

It even prohibits bringing food and water to voters waiting in line]

Activists assured that the measure

will disproportionately affect minorities and disabled people

who reside in one of the states with the most Latinos in the country.

Texas is the latest great battleground in the Republican Party's efforts nationwide to toughen voting laws, fueled by former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

New voting restrictions have also been approved in Georgia and Florida.

President Joe Biden on Saturday unfavorably compared the Texas bill to electoral changes in those states as

"an assault on democracy

.

"

The Texas bill would again empower partisan election observers to allow them more access inside polling places and threaten election officials who restrict their movement with criminal penalties.

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Election officials would also face

new criminal penalties, including for sending vote-by-mail requests

to people who did not request them.

Large Texas-based corporations, including American Airlines and Dell, have warned that the measures could harm democracy and the economic climate.

But Republicans ignored their objections and, in some cases, berated business leaders for speaking out.

With information from AP.