The Texas House of Representatives voted Tuesday to arrest the State Democrats who skipped out on the legislature and flew to Washington, D.C. Monday.
The House Republicans voted 76-4 to send law enforcement to find and return absent Democrats “under warrant of arrest, if necessary”.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened Democrats Monday with arrest once they come back home. That may not happen until the current special session ends in August. Gov. Abbott has vowed to keep trying until the 2022 elections if necessary.
“We think things have been delayed, not denied,” said state Rep. Jim Murphy, the House GOP caucus leader.
After House Republicans authorized sending out law enforcement, a sergeant-at-arms locked the chamber doors. Four Democrats who did not go to Washington were among the lawmakers still inside. The voting mechanisms on the desks of absent Democrats were locked. A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety did not say anything on what may happen next.
As that was happening, the group of Democrats met with members of Congress, asking them to quickly pass legislation protecting voting rights. The video above shows various State and U.S. Representatives discussing the matter, as well as part of a meeting the Democrats had with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“What’s happening in Texas by the GOP legislators and governor is just outrageous. These lawmakers are brave, they’re courageous. And they are simply fighting for the right of every Texan to have the right to vote,” Sen. Schumer said in the meeting. “These folks are going to be remembered on the right side of history. The governor and the Republican legislators will be remembered on the dark and wrong side of history.”
The Texas Democrats appeared to understand their effort to hold off GOP-back voting proposals could only last for so long. “We also know that we are living right now on borrowed time in Texas and we can’t stay here indefinitely to run out the clock to stop Republican anti-voter bills,” State Rep. Rhetta Bowers said. “That’s why we need Congress to act now and pass the For the People Act.”
Congress could also pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. That bill would restore sections of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court previously weakened.
