“They came up to the door, rang the doorbell,” said Jon Rosenthal, a Houston representative, describing surveillance video of the sergeant-at-arms official delivering the warrant to his home on Tuesday. “Nobody answered so he folded it in half and stuck it in the doorjamb.”
The voting bills in Texas, part of a nationwide effort by Republican-led state legislatures to tighten rules around ballot access, would roll back changes made during the 2020 election to make voting easier during the coronavirus pandemic. The proposed changes would also expand the authority of partisan poll watchers, which voting rights groups and Democrats say could lead to voter intimidation and suppression.
Mr. Abbott, in calling the special sessions, also included on the agenda priorities of his Republican base, such as rules on how race could be taught in schools and restrictions on transgender athletes. He also added several that have broader appeal, such as more money for retired teachers.
The standoff prompted calls for vigilante groups to help track down the Democrats. Outside groups offered rewards up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of the Democrats, garnering support from some Republican representatives.
“If you know the whereabouts of a missing lawmaker, submit a tip,” Briscoe Cain, a Houston-area Republican who chairs the House Elections Committee, said in a TikTok video this week, a semiautomatic rifle mounted on the wall behind him.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/us/texas-voting-rights.html
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