(AUSTIN, Texas) – Today, Democrats used the Texas House Rules to deny quorum and stop passage of Senate Bill 7 — Texas Republicans’ restrictive, anti-voter legislation, that makes it harder for seniors, people who are disabled and people of color to vote.
The parliamentary maneuver comes on the heels of five straight months of Democrats in both the House and the Senate fighting hard to kill or weaken the dozens of Republican bills that make it harder for Texans to vote.
Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) issued the following statement:
“The 67 members of the House Democratic Caucus have been fighting SB7 — the Republican anti-voter legislation — all year long. Tonight, we finished that fight.
“Ahead of a midnight deadline to pass legislation, dozens of Democratic Members were prepared to give speeches against this measure, which is designed to disenfranchise and discriminate against Texans. We were determined to run out the clock. It became obvious Republicans were going to cut off debate to ram through their vote suppression legislation. At that point, we had no choice but to take extraordinary measures to protect our constituents and their right to vote.
“Republicans have only themselves to blame for the way this Session is ending.”