After bitter fight, late changes and 3 a.m. vote, Texas House approves GOP election bill

Chuck Lindell
Austin American-Statesman
People gather outside the Texas House chamber Thursday to protest GOP efforts to create new election-related crimes, boost penalties for existing crimes and raise the profile of partisan poll watchers, measures that they say target voters of color.

After a bitter partisan fight, rapid late-night changes and a 3 a.m. vote, the Texas House approved a sweeping Republican election bill Friday that would increase regulations on voting by mail, add several election-related crimes and boost protections for partisan poll watchers.

Many of the changes to Senate Bill 7, negotiated in the early morning hours among members of both parties and added by amendment with little or no explanation, were designed to reduce criminal penalties for election law violations and limit criminal liability for mistakes made by voters and those who help them cast a ballot.

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The 18 agreed-upon amendments, including 13 by Democrats, made for a rancor-free ending to the debate that began Thursday evening, but they weren't enough to win support by Democrats.

"These took this bill from very ugly to just ugly," said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio.

State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, D-Houston, raises a fist as she enters the House chamber at the Capitol on Thursday to debate Senate Bill 7.

After giving initial approval to SB 7 shortly after 3 a.m., final House approval came Friday afternoon with a 78-64 vote almost entirely along party lines that returns the bill to the Senate.

The bill, however, looks nothing like the legislation that left the Senate on April 1, all but guaranteeing that a conference committee of senators and representatives will hash out the final version — making the fight over changes to Texas election laws far from over and leaving the ultimate version of the legislation far from certain.

Spoiling for a fight

Democrats came to the House chamber Thursday evening spoiling for a fight, drawing up more than 100 amendments to attack SB 7 provisions they believed would make it more difficult to vote, particularly for nonwhite Texans and those with disabilities who require help to cast a ballot.

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"We’re prepared to fight this all night," Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, said in a Twitter post that included a photo of himself wearing a face mask reading "Good trouble," quoting the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a longtime Democratic warrior for voting rights.

Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, said SB 7 was designed to boost flagging confidence in the integrity of elections, ensure that every vote cast was legal and thwart vote harvesters and others who coerce or cajole voters to cast ballots a certain way.

State Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin, clasps hands with protester Susan Gezana, as Cole entered the House chamber Thursday to debate Senate Bill 7.

"I don't believe this bill suppresses any votes. It's to help all voters," he said, adding that several changes were adopted based on input from disability rights and civil rights advocates.

Democrats argued that SB 7 was built on the foundation of the "big lie" that widespread voter fraud cost Donald Trump the 2020 election.

Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, said House members were more likely to be struck by lightning than to find voter fraud in Texas.

"You know what undermines confidence in our elections? It's the lies that are told in the face of all contrary evidence by politicians for their own and their party's political gain," he said. 

Other Democrats said SB 7 would unfairly target urban centers and discourage voting by those who typically support Democrats, particularly Latino, Black and Asian Americans and Texans with a disability. 

"Make no mistake, the backers of these election bills believe it will help Republicans and hurt Democrats. We all know that," said Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie. "It's a straight-up assault on voting rights."

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State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, questioned the use of the phrase "purity of the ballot box" in the Senate Bill 7, a term he said was historically used to deny the right to vote to Black Texans. It later was stricken from the bill.

'Purity of the ballot box'

When debate began Thursday, Anchía took exception to SB 7's statement of purpose that said the bill was designed to "preserve the purity of the ballot box" — a phrase used historically to deny the right to vote to Black Texans and create all-white primaries, he said.

"Are you aware of the history of that?" Anchia asked.

No, Cain replied, adding, "I'm sorry to hear that." The phrase was taken directly from the Texas Constitution, he said, noting later that he'd entertain an amendment to change "purity" to "integrity or something."

SB 7 protections for poll watchers, volunteers who typically represent candidates or political parties, drew sharp criticism from several Democrats, particularly a provision that would block election officials from removing poll watchers unless they break the law.

That provision opens polling places to all sorts of mischief from poll watchers, who in the past have been used to intimidate and harass Black and Latino voters, said Rep. Jessica González, D-Dallas.

The Texas House debates Senate Bill 7 late into the night. State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, D-Richardson, holds a racist sign from 1929 while Rep. Jessica González, D-Houston, speaks.

"It's old Jim Crow dressed up in what our colleagues are calling election integrity," González said. "We should be encouraging more Texans to vote, not try to turn someone who makes a simple mistake into a felon."

González proposed the night's first amendment, which would have gutted the bill by removing its enacting clause. By the time it was defeated by Republicans, almost 2½ hours had passed, and both sides were settling in for a long fight.

Then Democrats raised a point of order arguing that SB 7 could not be considered because its bill analysis was flawed, and the pace slowed even further. All work stopped on the House floor for two hours and 10 minutes while parliamentarians and House members in both parties hashed over the point of order.

At 10:30 p.m., Cain announced that action on SB 7 would be postponed for at least an hour while negotiations continued on amendments. More than three hours later, House members returned to SB 7, tacked on the 18 agreed-upon amendments and adjourned for the night — less than seven hours before the House was due back in session.

The first added amendment struck the phrase "and preserve the purity of the ballot box" from the bill.

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Other changes made by members of both parties clarified that poll watchers can be removed for committing a "breach of the peace" or a crime in polling places; required poll watchers to be warned before removal; and stated that poll watchers cannot photograph private information, ballots or "the marking of a ballot."

Another change added protections from prosecution for attendants and caregivers who help a person with a disability vote.

The result left some hard-core Texas conservatives lamenting the missed opportunity for more substantive changes and preparing to press the Senate to go further on state election procedures.

Democrats, meantime, were looking in another direction.

"You have your majority, but guess what? I look forward to seeing you in federal court," Martinez Fischer told Republicans on Friday. "You may have the vote today, but we are all equal in federal court."

Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, says SB 7 is designed to boost flagging confidence in the integrity of elections.