President Joe Biden is not holding back when it comes to his thoughts on a Texas voting restrictions bill.
The president wrote in a statement over the weekend, “It’s part of an assault on democracy that we’ve seen far too often this year — and often disproportionately targeting Black and Brown Americans.”
“It’s wrong and un-American,” he added. “In the 21st century, we should be making it easier, not harder, for every eligible voter to vote.”
Texas Republicans pushed for voting restrictions, which would “eliminate drive-thru voting, empower partisan poll watchers and limit voting on Sundays, when many Black churchgoers head to the polls,” The Associated Press reports.
The Republicans’ changes on the bill had to be approved before midnight on Sunday. However, Texas Democrats left the state House floor on Sunday, causing Republicans not to have the quorum needed to approve the bill — at least for now.
Democrats blocked a Republican move to change the state's voting laws by boycotting the final minutes of the legislative session.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 31, 2021
The sweeping legislation was created after former President Trump's repeated false claims of voter fraud in 2020.@EenaRuffini explains. pic.twitter.com/ieuENiM3Zb
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wrote in a statement on Sunday night that he will be adding “election integrity and bail reform” to the special session agenda.
“Legislators will be expected to have worked out the details when they arrive at the Capitol for the special session,” the governor wrote.
Statement on election integrity and bail reform legislation: pic.twitter.com/rcK1Q3AnsH
— Governor Abbott Press Office (@GovAbbottPress) May 31, 2021
Brianna Brown, the deputy director of the Texas Organizing Project, spoke to CNN’s John Berman on Monday morning where she said Democrats blocking the passage of the bill “gave us more time on the clock.”
After Brown said the “match is going into overtime,” Berman pressed, “Isn’t the result of the game — I really don’t think it’s a game, but you used the metaphor there — isn’t the end result known?”
“We’re going to continue to organize,” Brown said.
See the interview below:
Democrats leaving Texas House floor to block the passage of restrictive voting bill "gave us more time on the clock," says Brianna Brown of the Texas Organizing Project.
— CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish (@CNNThisMorning) May 31, 2021
“As many voices that can be in a chorus, in unison, help us bend history in Texas.” pic.twitter.com/DNPu5yPIj2
Berman noted that “a lot” of the measures in the Texas voting restriction bill are already taking place in Harris County, Texas, which “saw a groundswell of new voters in the last election.” He added that “this bill does a lot in a state where voting is already restrictive.”
"Senate Bill 7 was the worst of the worst," says Texas Democrat Chris Turner about leaving the House floor to block passage of a restrictive voting bill. "We were determined to kill this bill in any way we could."https://t.co/tLoAFZDj6w pic.twitter.com/NwVcm6jdyy
— CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish (@CNNThisMorning) May 31, 2021
Georgia is another state that received a lot of criticism for its new voting law, including from Biden, who called it “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.”
