Update below.
Almost every single Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives plans to leave Austin on Monday in an attempt to stymie the special session that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) called. As PJ Media’s Bryan Preston reported, Abbott called the special session in order to advance legislation on election integrity, border security, social media censorship, family violence prevention, protecting women’s sports, fighting critical race theory, and curbing access to abortion-inducing drugs, among other things.
At least 58 of the 67 Democrats in the Texas House plan to skip out on their jobs, an echo of the stunt Democrats pulled in 2003, NBC News reported. The move would paralyze the chamber.
Most of the Democrats plan to fly to Washington, D.C., in order to rally for H.R. 1, the federal takeover of elections that Democrats dub the “For the People Act.” According to NBC News’ source, most the Democrats plan to fly on two private jets.
Under the Texas Constitution, the legislature requires a quorum of two-thirds of lawmakers to be present to conduct state business. Absent lawmakers can be legally compelled to return to the Capitol, so state police may arrest the Democrats who skip out on their jobs.
Democrats pulled a successful stunt in May, walking out of the House floor in the final minutes of the regular session, breaking quorum and forcing Republicans to adjourn without passing a key agenda item.
In the current special session, Republicans advanced two voting bills — House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 1 — on Sunday after hearings in both chambers, with the House hearing lasting nearly 24 hours. Floor votes were expected to take place as soon as this week. Both bills would add identification requirements for mail-in voting, restrict some early voting options, and create new criminal penalties for breaking election law.
In order to successfully block the legislation, the Democrats would have to remain away through the end of the special session, which can last as many as 30 days.
While Democrats have attacked election integrity laws as “Jim Crow on steroids” or an insidious plan to make sure that black people cannot vote, the election integrity laws aim to correct election irregularities that plagued the 2020 election, such as ballot drop-boxes with insecure chains of custody and the widespread mailing of mail-in ballots using outdated voter lists.
Time magazine even published an astonishing story about a “cabal” and a “shadow campaign” that pulled the levers behind the scenes in the 2020 election. While the article claims these efforts aimed at preserving a free and fair election, organizations like the Center for Tech and Civic Life funneled money into blue areas of the country, boosting turnout that helped Biden prevail.
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When President Joe Biden called Georgia’s election integrity law “Jim Crow on steroids,” a Georgia state representative pointed out that the election laws in Biden’s home state of Delaware are far more restrictive. The Washington Post gave Biden four Pinocchios for repeatedly claiming that the Georgia law “ends voting hours early.” In fact, the bill extended voting hours.
Unfortunately, the increasingly “woke” forces of business and Big Tech have echoed Democrats’ false talking points, leading Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta. Many will cheer these Texas Democrats, even though they are skipping out on their jobs, violating the law, and supporting a federal takeover of elections that represents a doubling down on the insecure voting practices that plagued the 2020 election.
Updated 5:15 p.m. EST:
Texas Democrats did indeed leave the state. NBC News’ Scott Gordon shared a photo of the lawmakers flying to Washington, D.C., voting with their feet for a federal takeover of election law.
ON PLANE TO DC: Texas Democratic lawmakers are leaving state to break quorum to stop Republican voting bill. Veteran Capitol observers say this is unchartered territory. Photo from Democrat on the plane. https://t.co/YOuOMb0A2m pic.twitter.com/abWoARvFIC
— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) July 12, 2021
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