The Texas House of Representatives has approved a bill dealing with election integrity. The House passed SB 1 80-41 on Friday afternoon.
"The legislation contained in Senate Bill 1 has been discussed and debated by members of this body for 14 hours in a hearing during the first called session, for 8 1/2 hours in a hearing in the second called session, and 13 hours on the floor yesterday," says Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Kerrville). "That's 35 hours.
That shows this legislation is important to all of you, to your constituents, to stakeholders, to the State of Texas."
The bill would limit curbside voting to those unable to go inside and ban 24-hour or drive-thru voting locations. The bill would also prevent county elections departments from sending unsolicited vote-by-mail applications.
The measure would also require polling places to stay open an extra hour during early voting and give people submitting an absentee ballot a way to correct an error or verify their signature.
"Our job here in this chamber is to fight for every single Texan. It's to make sure we can have confidence in our election results and make sure everyone's vote counts if it's cast legally, that everyone who votes verifies who they are before they vote, and that ultimately, we can go back to the days when there was bi-partisanship. This is common sense," says Rep. JM Lozano (R-Portland). "Don't let Washington get in your heart. This is Texas."
Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston) says Texas has a history of laws that aim to reduce participation in the electoral process.
"If this body were reflective of the current population of Texas as reported by the Census so far, we would have just as many Hispanics as whites in this chamber," he says.
When Democrats broke quorum, Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) says they met with Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, and she asked, "please give us more time."
"We broke quorum not once but twice in what I believe was a just cause, an American cause," Anchia says. "The clock is ticking. There's an opportunity to rekindle that spirit of bi-partisan cooperation on voting rights that has been lost, where voting rights is now a partisan issue."
Murr says, even with differences of opinion, "all of us will exhibit strong character."
"While we may have differences of opinion, and we may fervently defend the opinions of our constituents, we will shake hands, and we will continue with the decorum and good life we owe all Texans," he says.
The House version of the bill had several differences and will be sent back to the Texas Senate. The Senate can either pass the House's version, or a conference committee will meet to develop a final bill to send to Governor Greg Abbott.
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