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Republicans in the Texas Capitol pass a reform that restricts the right to vote

2021-09-01T00:45:25.797Z


The regulation, still pending the governor's signature, includes banning 24-hour voting centers and imposing new requirements for voting by mail.


Several people line up to cast their vote in Fort Worth, Texas.Montinique Monroe / AFP

Republicans in the Texas Congress have succeeded in passing on Tuesday a reform to the electoral laws that restricts the right to vote.

Democrats tried for months to stop the bill from going forward in the Republican-controlled state Capitol.

Now the only thing missing is the signature of Governor Greg Abbott, who has already announced that he will support the law that prohibits 24-hour voting centers, imposes new requirements for voting by mail and tightens the conditions to identify himself, among several measures.

US President Joe Biden has previously called the initiative "an attack on democracy."

More information

  • The Supreme of the United States legitimizes two laws of Arizona that restrict the vote of the minorities

  • Democratic Congressmen Leave Texas Capitol to Boycott Republican Bill Restricting Voting

The bill "will solidify confidence in the outcome of our elections by making it easier to vote and harder to cheat," Abbott said in a statement Tuesday after the bill's final approval in the House of Representatives and the state Senate.

With this reform, Texas joins a Republican campaign to block voting in the elections under the argument of increasing security.

Georgia, Florida and Arizona are some of the dozen conservative states that have passed restrictive laws since the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump continues to shake off the specter that the election that won Biden was fraudulent.

Democrats tried by various means to prevent the vote. On more than one occasion, congressmen left the Capitol - and the State - to leave Republicans without the necessary quorum to pass voting bills. Civil rights defenders also led a campaign to stop the reform, which, in their perspective, is particularly detrimental to the participation of racial minorities and youth in electoral processes. The bill prevents counties from mailing ballots if they are not requested by the potential voter, even those 65 and older, who automatically qualify to vote by mail. It also restricts early voting hours and voting from the vehicle.

Texas' population has increased by more than four million in the last decade, an increase greater than any other state. People who do not identify as white make up more than nine out of 10 new residents. This demographic tends to favor Democrats at the polls.

The Conservative fiefdom is already one of the states with the most restrictive voting laws, but Harris County (the greater Houston area of ​​4.6 million residents) has become increasingly Democratic.

The new regulations point to that territory, accuse those of Biden's party.

In the presidential elections, when Harris County registered a record number of early voting, Governor Abbott desperately ordered that they leave only one mailbox to vote there instead of the stipulated 12.

After Biden was named the winner, the Texas attorney general filed a lawsuit to overturn the election results of four key states in Trump's defeat - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - but the Supreme Court dismissed it.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-09-01

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