The Texas Senate has passed a measure covering election integrity. SB 1 passed along party lines, 18-4.
"Anyone who says there's no voter fraud in Texas is telling you a very big lie," says Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Tyler), who wrote the measure.
The bill would ban drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting locations and would prevent county elections departments from sending unsolicited vote-by-mail applications. The measure would also expand areas accessible to poll watchers and require large counties to place surveillance cameras in rooms where votes are counted. People voting by mail would also be required to include their drivers license number or last four digits of their social security number.
Hughes, though, says the bill would also require polling places to stay open an additional hour during early voting and creates a way for absentee voters to correct an error or verify their signature.
"How much fraud is okay? None. How much suppression is okay? None," he says. "That's why Senate Bill 1 makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat."
Senator Larry Taylor (R-Pearland) says now that the bill has passed the Senate, Democrats are now preventing action in the Texas House by traveling to Washington.
READ MORE: Texas House Republicans urge arrest warrant for Democrats who've fled to Washington
"The work we're doing for the people of Texas is being wasted and being squandered," Taylor says.
Democrats were planning a response from Washington D.C. Wednesday afternoon.
"The freedom to vote is under assault, and Texas Democrats are going to DC to work for their constituents by shining a national spotlight on the urgent need for federal legislation that protects Americans’ freedom to vote," the Texas Democratic Party wrote in a statement.
Texas Democrats are calling on Congress to pass federal legislation dealing with campaign finance, election integrity and voter access.
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