The House Committee on Oversight and Reform discussed voting rights in Texas on Thursday.
Watch the hearing in the player above.
The GOP’s voting bill in Texas would ban 24-hour polling places, prohibit ballot drop boxes and empower partisan poll watchers, moves that Democrats say are designed to suppress and intimidate voters.
When Texas Democrats bolted for Washington in a dramatic gambit to block the bill, it was a significant strategic victory for Crockett and a group of newer Texas lawmakers, including Black and Latino members, whose instincts are more inclined to confrontational politics. If their long-suffering party is to find a way out of the wilderness in Texas, Democrats need to sharpen their message and their elbows, they argue.
Republicans are continuing to show up at the state Capitol, even though they can’t pass any laws.
Witnesses included:
- Senfronia Thompson, Texas State Representative and member on Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies
- Nicole Collier, Texas State Representative and chair on Texas Legislative Black Caucus
- Diego Bernal, Texas State Representative
- Nina Perales, Vice President of Litigation at Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund