On the heels of the Supreme Court’s Brnovich v. DNC decision last week, Republicans are continuing their surge of anti-voter legislation across the country.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott called the legislature back for a special session where Republicans will once again attempt to pass their restrictive voting law. GOP efforts failed after Democrats in the Texas House courageously walked out to break quorum and prevent passage of the bill. The new GOP bill would be one of the worst restrictive voter laws yet, severely limiting early voting and empowering partisan poll watchers. Texas House Democrats said on a press call with End Citizens United // Let America Vote on Wednesday that they stand ready to fight back and do what is best for their constituents and for the people of Texas.
In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers are continuing to advance the Big Lie by pushing for their own sham review of the 2020 election, with State Senator Doug Mastriano–who attended the January 6th insurrection and walked through police lines that day–personally requesting election materials from certain Pennsylvania counties.
Meanwhile, Ohio passed a budget that includes policies from dark-money groups that seeks to make it harder for election officials to do their jobs and for citizens to be informed on how to vote.
These relentless, dark-money-fueled attacks on the fundamental American right to vote from Republican state legislators will not stop unless Congress steps in. As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this morning, Republican-led legislatures are using disgraceful tactics to keep people from voting. The Senate must pass the For the People Act for President Biden to sign into law. The stakes are simply too high to allow process to stand in the way.
See below for a state-by-state recap of the restrictive and anti-voter policies Republicans across the country advanced this week:
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Texas
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Both TX House and Senate Republicans have now made their proposed restrictive voter bills public (HB 3 and SB 1, respectively). The new proposed bills mirror components of SB 7.
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Both bills would ban 24-hour voting and drive-through voting; prohibit election officials from proactively sending out absentee ballots to voters who have not requested them; make voting by mail more difficult; limit third-party ballot collection; increase the criminal penalties for election workers trying to do their jobs; limit what assistance can be provided to voters; and greatly expand the authority and autonomy of partisan poll watchers.
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SB 1 also includes new provisions including a monthly review of the state’s massive voter rolls to identify possible non-citizens.
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Ohio
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Ohio’s recently passed budget not only bans elections officials from accepting private grants—which is a policy that the dark-money, anti-voting Heritage Foundation has been pushing across the country—but also says they can’t “collaborate” with private organizations on getting out the vote, absentee voting, or “any other elections activities.” This may cause major issues for GOTV groups.
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The fight over Ohio Republicans’ proposed restrictive voting law has continued. The bill would limit the use of ballot drop boxes to the 10 days before the election and require voters to request a ballot 10 days before the election rather than three. Republicans have said they expect to have the bill signed into law by January 2022.
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Pennsylvania
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PA Republicans are starting to prepare for a Arizona style sham review of the 2020 election. GOP Sen. Doug Mastriano is pushing for the sham review.
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Georgia
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A federal judge rejected an attempt to block parts of Georgia’s anti-voter law that had been challenged in a lawsuit.
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Montana
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Restrictions passed by the Republican-led Montana Legislature could have stark effects on Native American reservations, where voting in person can mean a two-hour drive.
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