Some Texas Democrats ready to walk as GOP digs in on voting

The possibility of Texas Democrats staging a second walkout to again stop one of America’s most restrictive new voting measures grew louder Saturday, as hundreds of people waited hours to rail against the GOP’s plan in the largest turnout this year at the state Capitol.

As Republicans made clear they intended this weekend to advance a new election bill — which would prohibit 24-hour polling places, ban drop boxes and stop drive-thru voting — some Democrats who broke quorum in May are now describing it as their best, if not only, option again.

Texas is among several states with GOP-controlled statehouses where Republicans have rushed to enact strict voting laws in response to former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. A second walkout by Texas Democrats would mark a high-stakes escalation of their efforts to deny Republicans a major priority, and in turn, put more pressure on President Joe Biden to act on voting at the federal level.