REPUBLICAN BACKED ELECTIONS BILL HEADS TO GOVERNOR’S DESK

  

Senate Bill 1, also known as the elections bill, is headed to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.

The full Texas House passed the bill yesterday by a vote of 80-to-41.  The bill then passed the Senate 18-13, directly along party lines.

This is the piece of legislation that led to House Democrats heading to Washington, D.C., to break quorum. After some Democrats returned to the Texas Capitol, the House returned to a quorum on Aug. 19.

The bill amends the state's election code to clamp down voting-by-mail rules and limit initiatives to widen access to voting.  It would also increase protections for poll watchers and add new ID requirements for voting by mail

SB 1 would outlaw drive-thru voting and require voting to happen inside a building. It also would ban 24-hour voting and the distribution of unsolicited mail-in ballot applications.