Texas House Passes Voting Bill That Dems Attempted To Block by Fleeing State

After a Panhandle-sized helping of political theatrics that spanned several months, an election integrity bill that Texas Democrats hoped to stall by running away has passed the state House.

Thursday’s 79-37 vote to pass Senate Bill 1 came a week after enough Democrats had returned to the chamber that the House could once again conduct business, according to The Texas Tribune.

When the bill was first considered at the end of the regular legislative session in May, House Democrats walked out en masse. That meant there were not enough members left in the chamber to conduct business.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session for July, prompting the Democrats to flee to Washington, D.C., where they were out of reach of state efforts to compel them to do their jobs.

Abbott then called another special session, the Legislature even authorizing the civil arrest of the Democrats. As August drifted on, the lawmakers drifted back to Texas and finally back to work.

The election integrity bill needs to be passed once more by the House, which has made some changes to the bill since the Senate approved it. If the Senate passes the bill again, it will go to Abbott to be signed into law.

Democrats have claimed that the bill will make it harder for people who traditionally support them to vote; Republicans say it is a response to the potential of election fraud.