Texans wait 17 hours in the State Capitol to express their opinions on the Republican restricted voting bill

Hundreds of Texans signed testimony against the Republican-backed election reform in Texas this weekend, and many of them waited more than 17 hours in the state capitol to participate in the public hearing.

Republican lawmakers in Texas are pushing for new restrictive voting measures to tighten rules on mail-in voting, control speedy voting, and prohibit local election officials from preemptively mailing applications for absentee ballots to all registered voters , And other changes have been lashed out by voting rights activists and Democratic Party.

The Texas House of Representatives allowed public testimony on the bill from 1:41 a.m. on Sunday, but critics of Republican legislation began to appear as early as 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Texas Tribune Report.

“All we want is a fair opportunity for us to hear our voices during the election process,” Michelle Brown, who took the sorority to the Capitol, told the Austin-based media organization.

Former Representative Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat of Texas, also joined the testimony against the legislation.O’Rourke posted a photo of himself attending the legislative session to Twitter Sunday morning.

“Just testified against the Texas Voter Suppression Act (HB3). I really appreciate all those who came out, especially those who are still testifying (4:15 in the morning!),” the politician tried to overturn Senator, but unsuccessful Ted Cruise, A Texas Republican, as early as 2018-wrote. “We are doing our best to fight for voting rights in Texas. I hope the president and Senate Will do its best. “

Democrats of Texas Can temporarily defeat Republican efforts Promoting voting legislation by organizing a strike in late May Republicans The quorum required in the state legislature. Although Republicans control the Texas House of Representatives and Senate, they do not have enough majority seats to maintain a quorum without the presence of Democrats. The Minority Leader of the Texas House of Representatives, Chris Turner, led all his Democratic colleagues to withdraw at the May 30 meeting, effectively preventing the bill from making progress during the legislative session.

Governor Greg Abbott, Republicans, then vowed to convene a special legislative session to pass the bill. He also vetoed funding from the Texas legislature in June, which means that legislators and legislators will not be able to receive regular compensation. Abbott argued that members of the state legislature should not be paid after “resigning early.” But Turner called the move “arrogant” and pointed out that Southwestern states had “governors, not dictators.”

The Republican Party’s efforts to reform the election were mainly driven by the former president Donald TrumpUnfounded claims that he lost the 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud. This extraordinary allegation has been thoroughly filed and thoroughly exposed. Experts have repeatedly pointed out that election fraud is extremely rare in American elections. But after Trump’s defeat, Republican lawmakers in every state across the country pushed for electoral reforms, and Georgia and Florida have approved controversial bills.

The Brennan Judicial Center reported in May that “at least 61 bills with restrictive clauses are being passed through 18 state legislatures. More specifically, 31 have passed at least one house, while another 30 have been adopted. Some kind of committee action (for example, a hearing, an amendment, or a committee vote). Overall, legislators introduced at least 389 restrictive bills in 48 states in the 2021 legislative session.”

At the same time, Democratic congressmen in Washington, D.C., are Trying to pass The People’s Act, which will support voting rights and cancel most of the Republican election changes in all states across the country.However, this effort is still deadlocked because the National Senate is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans-Republican legislators are able to pass Legislative obstruction.

Weekly newspaper Abbott’s press secretary was contacted for further comment, but there was no immediate response.