Texas approves restrictive voting bill banning 24hr election booths and limiting votes by mail
Republicans in Texas have voted in favour of a restrictive voting bill that would ban 24-hour polling booths and limit the availability of mail-in ballots.
The bill, which was brought back in front of lawmakers on Saturday, failed in May after Democrats walked out of the chamber, but was approved in a special session of the legislature on Sunday.
More than 300 members of the public signed up to testify in hearings that went on for almost 24 hours, and saw Democrats and civil rights campaigners accuse Republicans of disadvantaging Black Texans.
Among the provisions of the bill are bans on drive-thru and 24-hour polling stations, and tougher requirements for voter identification. As is voting by mail a target of the legislation, The Texas Tribune reported.
The failure to pass the bill in May, when Democrats walked out on Republicans in the Texas legislature, is thought to be among the reasons for governor Greg Abbott’s special session of the legislature.
In total, 11 issues that Texas lawmakers did not pass in the regular session of the chamber, were included on Mr Abbott’s agenda — and almost all of which appeal only to Republican voters.
John Bucy, a Democrat in Texas’s House of Representatives, was among those to condemn the bill for reducing the roll out of voting to shift workers and others who were able to vote in 2020 at a 24-hour booth or drive-thru, or by mail-in ballot.
"We're going to make it harder for communities of colour, for individuals with disabilities, for individuals where English isn't their primary language, and for seniors to vote and to have access to the ballot box, even though the elections were a resounding success," said the Democrat, in remarks reported by The Tribune.
"I'm trying to figure out what problem is this bill trying to solve."
Andrew Murr, a Texas Republican, argued that the bill would "reduce the likelihood of fraud", in remarks that appeared to repeat former US president Donald Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud in 2020.
If the Texas legislature approves the final bill, as it is expected to, Texas be the latest US state to introduce laws aimed at restricting voting access.
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