EXPLAINER: How Texas Republicans aim to make voting harder – By Acacia Coronado (Associated Press) / May 31 2021
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas took a major step Sunday toward becoming the nation’s largest state where the GOP is making voting harder following the 2020 elections , with the Senate approving a bill that would empower poll watchers, create criminal penalties and add new restrictions on where, when and how to vote.
Advocates say the changes would disproportionately affect minorities and people with disabilities.
The legislation still has two remaining steps before it becomes the law in Texas: a final vote of approval in the GOP-controlled House that was expected Sunday, which would send the bill to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is is expected to sign off.
America’s largest red state already has some of the tightest voting restrictions in the country and is regularly cited by nonpartisan groups as a state where voting is especially difficult. It was one of the few states that did not make it easier to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, instead sending droves of voters to the polls to cast their ballots in-person.
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