Pelosi, TX lawmakers blast GOP on voting rights 'assault'

"I wrote to my colleagues yesterday in the House to say the clock was ticking on our democracy when it came to the sanctity of the vote," Pelosi said.

Chris Turner, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, said the Republican attempt to 'suppress the vote' in Texas and across the country is 'not going to stop'. He called it a 'diabolical attempt'.

Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives boycotted a legislative session on May 31, blocking a vote on an election reform bill that critics say would make it harder for Blacks and Hispanics to vote.

They are calling on Congress to pass the sweeping voting rights bill - known as the For the People Act - that would expand access to voting across the United States.

The bill would require states to expand mail-in voting, which was used widely in last year's presidential election because of the coronavirus pandemic, and it would also lengthen the hours of in-person balloting.

Republican-controlled state legislatures in places such as Texas and Georgia have since sought to greatly scale back mail-in voting, as former President Donald Trump has continued to make false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.