‘We saw the writing on the wall’: Texas Democrats testify before Washington committee

State Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat, told members of a U.S. House subcommittee that there is a concerted in states across the country to pass legislation that would limit ballot access.

She and other House Democrats testified Thursday before the subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. They are in Washington working to block election bills filed during a special session of the Texas legislature called by Gov. Greg Abbott. State Rep. Travis Clardy, a Nacogdoches Republican, also testified.

The Democrats from Texas have been advocating for federal voting rights legislation. The bills filed in Texas would prohibit 24-hour voting, bar election officials from sending vote-by-mail applications to people who didn’t ask for them and protect poll watchers — individuals appointed by a candidate or by a political party to observe polling places or ballot counts.

The Democrats also broke quorum during the regular legislative session in May and killed a similar bill, Senate Bill 7.

“Our backs were against the wall,” Collier said. “There was no more discussion. We saw the writing on the wall just like it was during the regular session.”

Collier was joined by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat, and Rep. Diego Bernal, a San Antonio Democrat. Thompson, who is serving her 25th term, described the history of poll taxes in Texas and expressed concerns about poll watchers intimidating voters in minority communities.

“I am the voice of my constituents, and if I had to walk to Washington, D.C., to get you to hear what I had to say to fight for my constituents, I’ll use any means necessary to get my point over,” Thompson said.

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, a Waco Republican, walked through other items on the legislative agenda that aren’t being taken up due to the quorum break and criticized House Democrats for leaving Austin.

“I know that here in Washington, D.C., we do not have the votes to win any single vote, so to speak. None,” Sessions said in his opening remarks. “But Republicans don’t walk out. We don’t go and accuse people of things just because we are losing.”

Clardy told lawmakers the conversations happening in the subcommittee hearing are better suited for the Texas House floor and said “there is no assault on voting rights in Texas.” He said said lawmakers should want to make voting easier and cheating harder.

“House Bill 3, the reason we are here today, is a sound and tailored bill to improve existing law,” Clardy said. “And like every bill, it can get better through debate and deliberation, but unfortunately, until our colleagues decide to come home, that is not possible.”

Collier highlighted a measure she said would “require someone who is eligible to vote by mail to insert their last four digits of their driver’s license or Social Security number or say they don’t have one.” A person who registered to vote year ago may not remember which number was originally used when registering, Collier said.

“Under the provisions of this bill, if she put down the other number, even though it’s the correct one, her ballot would be rejected and there’s no cure opportunity within this bill to cure her ballot,” Collier said.

Rep. Pat Fallon, a Sherman Republican who used to serve in the Texas Legislature, later said that he’d gotten a text from lawmakers in Austin related Collier’s concerns about the driver’s license number and Social Security number.

“They are aware of it. They said they discussed it with y’all and they are going to cure it via an amendment,” Fallon said.

Thompson in a news conference following the hearing said she hadn’t heard from Republicans in Austin about the amendment.