In the early morning hours the Texas House gave initial approval to election reform legislation that Republicans claim will ensure election integrity and Democrats say will suppress the vote.
It took till 3 AM for the House to hammer out an agreement on second reading of the bill that would limit the number of polling places and voting hours, ban the mass mailing of ballot applications, and further define the role of poll watchers and those assisting voters.
State Representative Briscoe Cain sponsored Senate Bill 7. “I filed this bill to ensure that we have an equal and uniform application of our election code and to protect people from being taken advantage of,” said Cain as he rolled out the bill.
A point of order by Democrats nearly sunk the legislation, but after hours of negotiations and rewriting behind closed doors the two sides agreed to whittle down 145 amendments down to just 18 that were mutually agreed upon. They seemed to limit the criminalization of voting errors. State Representative John Bucy authored one of the amendments. “It will make sure that only people who know they are ineligible to vote can be prosecuted for illegal voting and that people who make innocent mistakes in the voting process cannot be thrown in jail for mere confusion or a slip-up.”
Once the bill is passed on 3rd reading it will then need to go back to the Senate for final approval before heading to the Governor’s Desk.