Texas Senate passes sweeping voting bill following Dem jaunt to DC:
The Texas Senate passed a sweeping GOP-backed election reform bill on Thursday, after state Democrats fled to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to block it.
State Senator Carol Alvarado (D) kicked off her long-shot efforts to derail the bill with a 15-hour filibuster on the floor on Wednesday. The Texas Democrat was not permitted to sit, eat, lean on her desk, skew from topics unrelated to the bill or take bathroom breaks while filibustering.
“My friends, voter suppression anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere,” she said shortly before the vote. “As we draw this discussion to an end, it is my sincere hope that civil acts by everyday Texans — from the Senate floor to the ballot box — can help shed the light.”
Despite Alvarado’s attempts to thwart the legislation from advancing, it ultimately passed in an 18-11 vote. It is stalled in the House until it can reach quorum, which Texas House Democrats have looked to withhold with a group flying to Washington, D.C. last month. --->READ MORE HERE
Sweeping GOP elections bill passes Texas Senate after 15-hour Democratic filibuster ends:
The Texas Senate approved a sweeping GOP voting and elections bill, on Thursday after a marathon Democratic filibuster came to an end.
A Democratic filibuster, begun Wednesday evening, ended Thursday morning just after Sen. Carol Alvarado passed the 15-hour mark.
The Senate then voted shortly after 9 a.m. to give final approval to Senate Bill 1 on an 18-11 vote, with two Democrats absent for health reasons.
Alvarado, D-Houston, launched her filibuster at 5:47 p.m. Wednesday, reading extensively from public testimony against Senate Bill 1 that came from prior committee hearings on the nationally watched legislation.
Alvarado — who could not sit and lean on her desk, drink or eat until the filibuster ended — also received extensive help from other Democrats, who took to the Senate floor to ask long questions, giving her sometimes scratchy voice a break. --->READ MORE HERE
Officers Deputized by State of Texas 'Immediately' Begin Hunting for Runaway Democrats:
Their pictures are neither on milk cartons nor wanted posters, but there is a hunt underway for a missing herd of Democratic Texas lawmakers.
On Thursday, law enforcement authorities across the state were granted approval to track down Democrats who have come back home after dashing off to Washington, D.C., in July to avoid having to vote on an election integrity bill proposed by Republicans, according to the Washington Examiner.
Earlier this week, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signed civil arrest warrants designed to authorize the detention of 52 Democrats who fled the state.
That brought about the predictable court battle, in which Republicans trying to enforce a quorum in the Texas House won a victory when the Texas Supreme Court overruled orders from Harris County judges that would have blocked the arrests.
After gaining temporary protection against the warrant, Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu fought being forced to enter the chamber to do the job he was elected to do. --->READ MORE HERE
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