Texas Democrats return, end 38-day holdout over voting bill
Enough Texas Democrats have returned from Washington, D.C. to the Texas State House to end the party’s 38-day stand against Republican-sponsored election reforms. The bill that Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives had hoped to defeat has already passed the Texas State Senate and will likely be signed by Governor Greg Abbott in the coming weeks. Some frustration and disagreement between the state’s Democrats has been expressed to the press since enough members of the party have relented to allow for the bill
John Roberts and the Supreme Court might block anything Democrats do on voting rights
Legal experts continue to express skepticism that a Congressional restoration of the federal government’s authority to approve or reject state voting laws - also known as “preclearance” - will survive a review by the current US Supreme Court. While conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has expressed a willingness to restore preclearance powers to the federal government through Congressional legislation, experts think it is very possible that the new formula being devised by the Democrats for determining when a state has created
Dems plot last-ditch voting rights push as midterm clock ticks
Democratic Leadership in the House of Representatives and the Senate are scrambling to pull off separate but related legislative gambits before new voting districts are drawn across the country, but many are doubtful that either chamber’s plans will come to fruition. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes to persuade her caucus to approve some version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the next few weeks - a bill to restore federal preclearance powers on state voting laws, which might have
Texas law enforcement enlisted to end Democrats’ holdout
The Texas State Senate has approved a new Republican-backed voting law after a fifteen-hour filibuster from State Rep. Carol Alvorado (D-TX District 6) failed to halt its passage. Meanwhile, state law enforcement has been enlisted to call for the return of dozens of Democratic members of the Texas House, who have travelled to D.C. to protest a vote on Republican-backed voting policies in their chamber. The use of law enforcement marks a dramatic ramp up of tactics in the ongoing face-off between the state’s
Civil rights leaders plan a day of voting rights marches
Civil and voting rights activists are planning a day of marches across the United States on August 28th, in order to pressure Congress to act on what they say are urgently needed voting law reforms. The effort is being led by Martin Luther King III, Alejandro Chavez (grandson of labor and civil rights activist Caesar Chavez), and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Major marches are scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, and Phoenix, along with a march in Washington, D.C.Visit Axios to learn