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Federal voting law aimed at Texas is early test of Democrats’ power in D.C.

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5 years ago

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TX— Democrats in Congress are pushing a sweeping rewrite of the country’s voting laws, essentially establishing a new national election code aimed at reining in states like Texas, where Republicans for years have worked to limit access to the ballot.

Texas has voting laws that are among the strictest in the nation, and the bill would target virtually all of them. It would ban voter ID laws, institute automatic and same-day voter registration and it would expand mail-in and early voting options. And it would take redistricting out of the hands of the state’s lawmakers just as they’re gearing up to redraw political boundaries.

It’s also a way for the Democrats to push back against Republicans who supported Donald Trump as he made unprecedented and baseless claims that the November election was stolen from him because voting access was expanded during the pandemic.

“This bill restores guardrails to our democracy that almost went off the rails as Republicans pledged their loyalty to the cult of Donald Trump,” said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio.

Democrats have long believed that if they can ramp up turnout, especially of young and minority voters, they can win Texas, the biggest remaining Republican state. The GOP relies on Texans and their 38 electoral votes to compete with the Democrats in presidential elections.

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