This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.Demonstrators protest new voter legislation gather outside the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, on May 6, 2021. Texas Republicans dug in Saturday, May 29, for a final weekend vote on some of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S.Texas Republicans dug in Saturday for a final weekend vote on some of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S.
U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement calling the Texas bill’s final form “wrong and un-American.” GOP legislators are also moving to prohibit Sunday voting before 1 p.m., which critics called an attack on what is commonly known as “souls to the polls” - a get-out-the vote campaign used by Black church congregations nationwide. The idea traces back to the civil rights movement. Democratic state Representative Nicole Collier, chairwoman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, said the change is “going to disengage, disenfranchise those who use the souls to the polls opportunity.
Major corporations, including Texas-based American Airlines and Dell, have warned that the measures could harm democracy and the economic climate. But Republicans shrugged off their objections, and in some cases, ripped business leaders for speaking out. Texas already has some of the country’s tightest voting restrictions and is regularly cited by nonpartisan groups as a state where it is especially hard to vote. It was one of the few states that did not make it easier to vote by mail during the pandemic.