Topline
A Texas Democratic state senator announced Wednesday she intends to filibuster the state’s restrictive voting bill, the latest stall tactic Democrats are employing to hold up passage of the controversial legislation—though House Democrats’ weeks-long effort to block the bill could soon end as they face fresh arrest warrants to compel them to return to the Capitol.
Key Facts
State Sen. Carol Alvarado said she submitted her intention to filibuster SB1 when the Senate debates it, stalling progress on the controversial voting bill that imposes new measures like restrictions on ballot drop boxes and drive through voting and additional barriers to mail-in voting.
The senator acknowledged to the Texas Tribune the filibuster “isn’t going to stop” the bill’s passage in the Senate, but said she’s using the tactic “to put the brakes on” the bill and “call attention to what is at stake.”
While the Senate can move forward with the voting bill, the Texas House still lacked a quorum Wednesday—as it has every day since 57 Texas Democrats fled the state in mid-July—and therefore could not move forward with legislation.
Though 26 Texas House Democrats are staying in Washington, D.C., to lobby for federal voting legislation that could override Texas’ restrictions—51 need to be absent to break a quorum—some have since returned to Texas, and at least four had returned to the Capitol as of Tuesday night, the Tribune reports.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan issued arrest warrants Tuesday night for 52 Democrats that have still not yet returned to the Capitol, which cannot be legally enforced for those out of state but could be used to compel Democrats in Texas to return to the Capitol and allow the voting bill to move forward.
State Rep. Gene Wu has temporarily evaded arrest after a judge granted his filing of a writ of habeas corpus Wednesday that protects him from the arrest warrant—at least until another hearing takes place next week—and Wu said in a statement he and his counsel are “working on granting the same protection” to his Democratic colleagues.
What To Watch For
Alvarado’s filibuster is expected to start Wednesday afternoon before the Senate votes on the voting bill. Some Texas House Democrats had predicted earlier this week the chamber would soon get their quorum back even before the arrest warrants were issued, as Rep. Eddie Lucio predicted to the Tribune on Saturday the House could achieve a quorum “as early as this week” as he expected more of his Democratic colleagues to return. The current special session of the Texas state legislature—the second such session Gov. Greg Abbott has called, after the first one ended without the House ever achieving a quorum—will run for 30 days after starting on Saturday, though Abbott has vowed to continue calling special sessions until the legislation is passed. Texas Democrats have conceded the voting bill will likely ultimately pass whenever the House is able to move forward with the legislation. “If I was a betting man, I would say that, yeah, Abbott’s probably going to win,” Wu told the Washington Post.
Key Background
Texas Democrats’ protest against the voting bill has been ongoing since May, when lawmakers walked off the House floor in the waning moments of the legislative session to block the voting bill’s passage. They then fled the state entirely after Abbott called a special session to try again at passing the bill. The voting legislation is one of numerous restrictive voting bills that are now being passed by GOP state lawmakers nationwide in the wake of the 2020 election. House Republicans previously moved during the first special session to have the sergeant-at-arms compel the Democratic lawmakers to return to the Capitol, using arrest if necessary, though with all the Democrats out of state they were powerless to actually compel their arrest. Only one arrest warrant was unsuccessfully issued for a lawmaker who briefly returned to Texas but then went back to Washington, D.C., and the order expired when the first special session ended. A Texas state court temporarily blocked Republicans from issuing arrest warrants on Monday, ruling the GOP officials had “erroneously interpreted Texas law and legislative rules” to permit their colleagues’ arrest, but the Texas Supreme Court then overturned that ruling on Tuesday and paved the way for the warrants to be issued.
Tangent
The decision by a few Democrats to return to the Texas State Capitol has sparked some infighting among the left-wing lawmakers, as some still staying away criticize their colleagues for going back to the chamber. “You all threw us under the bus today,” Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos tweeted Monday at Democrats who had returned, while Rep. Jasmine Crockett tweeted, “The fact that some of us secured a Temporary Restraining Order [against the arrest warrants] to protect ALL of us, yet some are trying to please the Governor and His OPPRESSIVE Agenda?! JUST WOW!”
Further Reading
Texas Sen. Carol Alvarado to filibuster GOP elections bill, adding fuel to Democratic fight to block the legislation (Texas Tribune)
Live updates: Texas Democrats may face arrests and be forced back to the Capitol after stalling voting restrictions bill (Texas Tribune)
Texas Republicans Can’t Arrest Democrats Who Fled State To Block Voting Bill, Judge Says (Forbes)
Texas Court Rules That Democratic Lawmakers Can Be Arrested For Fleeing State—Voiding Earlier Ruling (Forbes)
