The Texas House Democrats killed Senate Bill 7 late Sunday night when they took a stand against the most restrictive bill since the end of Reconstruction, which echoed Jim Crow-era policies, by walking off the state House floor, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill before the midnight deadline.
The election restrictions presented in SB7 would profoundly affect people of color. The unity our state leaders showed at the Capitol was the right thing to do. We must all work together and stand against efforts that obstruct the right to vote.
In Fort Bend County we made bipartisan changes before the 2020 elections, with county commissioners voting unanimously to extend voting hours and creating drive-thru voting for those who were unable to walk inside a voting center. This bipartisan leadership also supported initiatives to increase election security and accessibility by advocating for an online voter registration application portal for eligible voters, funding more efforts to increase civic engagement, and create a tool for registered voters to track their mail-in ballots.
At a time in our country when we should all come together, these restrictive laws needlessly and unfairly make it more difficult for people to vote. Our fight is not over, Governor Greg Abbott has made clear his intentions to bring this legislation back up as part of a special session of the Legislature. We must continue to shut down partisan falsehoods of voter fraud and use our voices to speak against this attack on voting rights and our democracy.
