Abbott Signs Texas Election Law, Ending a Fierce Voting Rights Battle

Politics|Abbott Signs Texas Election Law, Ending a Fierce Voting Rights Battle

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas connected Tuesday signed a sweeping measure overhauling the state’s elections, capping a dramatic, monthslong nationalist saga implicit voting rights with a caller Republican-led instrumentality that volition sharply restrict voting crossed the nation’s second-biggest state.

Appearing successful profoundly reddish East Texas, Mr. Abbott proclaimed the instrumentality a “paradigm” for different states looking to walk predetermination bills.

Mr. Abbott argued that the instrumentality would marque it “harder for radical to cheat astatine the ballot container successful Texas.” Flanked astatine the signing by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the 2 Republican sponsors of the bill, helium claimed that it would “make it easier than ever earlier for anybody to spell formed a ballot.”

Mr. Abbott was referring, successful part, to provisions successful the instrumentality that adhd an other hr connected weekdays during aboriginal voting. But the authorities successful information contains aggregate measures that volition marque voting harder. In particular, it bans balloting methods that Harris County, which includes the Democratic bastion of Houston, introduced past twelvemonth to marque voting easier during the pandemic, including drive-through polling places and 24-hour voting.

The instrumentality volition besides further restrict absentee voting, with 1 proviso barring predetermination officials from sending voters unsolicited absentee ballot applications and from promoting the usage of ballot by mail, and different further limiting the usage of driblet boxes.

The instrumentality besides greatly empowers partisan canvass watchers; creates caller transgression and civilian penalties for canvass workers who autumn afoul of the rules; and erects caller barriers for those looking to assistance voters who request help, specified arsenic with translations.

Before Mr. Abbott had adjacent signed the bill, voting rights groups, civilian rights groups and Democrats filed lawsuits against the legislation, arguing that aggregate provisions would interruption some the Voting Rights Act and amendments to the Constitution.

This nonfiction volition beryllium updated.