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(Austin, Texas) — Texas state legislators returned to the Capitol building Thursday to begin a special session, during which they will resume debate on SB7, the omnibus voter suppression bill that failed passage at the regular legislative session in late May.
An agenda released for the special session by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has signaled that the elections bill is a top priority.
The following is a statement from Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel and senior deputy director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
“SB7 is a wholescale attack on the right to vote, instigated by anti-voter politicians who are targeting voters of color as those voters are increasingly influential on electoral outcomes. SB7 places unnecessary and overly burdensome barriers on Texans’ right to vote. Among other things. it will restrict the methods of voting that county election officials can implement in times of emergency, increase the power of partisan poll watchers at the polls, and decrease the authority of election judges by subjecting them to additional criminal penalties.
“In order to prevent measures like these from suppressing the vote, Congress needs to act by passing the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. There is absolutely no time to waste.”
