Navigation
  • Inter Softech
  • World
  • National
  • Business
  • Education
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Health
  • More
    • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Technology
    • Sports
Breaking News
  |  Indonesia says it will push back Rohingya refugees adrift on leaking boat   |  Plastic beads could make nets more visible to cetaceans, scientists say   |  Harry Reid, who led Senate Democrats for 12 years, dies at 82   |  Denver gunman who killed five in shooting rampage knew victims   |  Prince Andrew lawyer seeks to halt US case as accuser ‘lives in Australia’   |  Russian court orders closure of another human rights group   |  Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid   |  Manipur NPP leader Letpao Haokip joins BJP   |  Jharkhand: Rs 25 per litre relief in price of fuel for two wheelers of the poor   |  19-year-old stabbed to death by friend’s father: Kerala Police   |  Akhilesh takes Lord Hanuman out on Vijay Yatra   |  Paul Bettany: having Johnny Depp texts read aloud in libel trial was ‘an unpleasant feeling’   |  Russian court increases jail sentence for Gulag historian   |  Jesus statue smashed in spate of attacks on India’s Christian community   |  Jean-Marc Vallée, director of Dallas Buyers Club, Wild and Big Little Lies, dies aged 58   |  Palma to limit cruise ships after environmental concerns   |  Donald Trump golf resorts claimed at least £3.3m in UK furlough support   |  Afghan ex-BBC journalist stranded for months due to Home Office scheme delays   |  England cricket capitulations have gone from car-crash to commonplace   |  Tennis star Denis Shapovalov tests positive for Covid after arriving in Sydney

Latest News

Texas Republicans plot to resurrect restrictive voting bill after Democrats’ walkout

June 01, 2021
25

Republicans in Texas are already plotting to resurrect their fight for sweeping voting restrictions after Democratic lawmakers walked out of the state capitol and blocked an 11th-hour attempt to ram through legislation that would have made it harder to cast a ballot.

Texas governor Greg Abbott – who leads the state’s domineering Republican majority – has announced he will include the high-stakes issue on his agenda when he reconvenes the legislature for a rapid-fire special session. He called the failure of the bill “deeply disappointing”.

Abbott, who says “election integrity” remains an emergency in Texas, wields control over what is essentially legislative overtime, where lawmakers consider issues on a sped-up timeline. When the session will begin remains unclear.

But advocates are still painting last night’s historic show of force as an inflection point for the Texas legislature and America, when Democrats shirked business as usual for aggressive tactics that matched the urgency of a teetering democracy.

“The fight you saw last night is the fight that will remain and continue,” state representative Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat representing San Antonio, told the Guardian. “That’s our commitment.”

Senate Bill 7, an omnibus bill that restricts voter access, seemed almost destined to become law at the start of Texas’s legislative session, as powerful Republican leaders invoked baseless claims of “election integrity” to push for a virtual overhaul of the state’s already notoriously byzantine voting system.

SB7 was one proposal among a larger blitz of at least 389 restrictive voting bills introduced across the country this legislative cycle, bolstered by Republicans’ unsubstantiated assertions of widespread voter fraud during last year’s election.

The Texas bill drew ire from business leaders, voting rights advocates and left-leaning politicians, some of whom dubbed it “Jim Crow 2.0” and noted the disproportionate impact it would likely have on voters of color. But Republican lawmakers still strong-armed their way through procedural maneuvers and overnight votes, relying on backroom dealings and avoiding public scrutiny while advancing the legislation.

“People want a fair system. And they saw what happened, and they know that this is a cynical attempt at holding onto power,” said Charlie Bonner, communications director at the civic engagement non-profit Move Texas.

“These are people who are trying to stack the deck, and they’re doing it in the middle of the night.”

SB7 has gone through a series of dizzying changes since it first passed the state senate in early April, culminating in a Frankenstein bill that attempted to reconcile both chambers’ priorities, plus add new provisions in the final stretch.

The bill would have made it a state jail felony for a public official to proactively solicit or send vote by mail applications, restricted the use of drop boxes, banned 24-hour and drive-thru voting and lowered the bar for overturning an election, among other measures.

After months of controversy, it was still teed up to meet a midnight deadline Sunday night, when it needed to clear the House to land on Abbott’s desk. But, after being silenced and boxed out of deliberations, Democrats decided to go nuclear, preventing the necessary quorum for a vote.

“The eyes of the nation were watching Texas, and we wanted to make very clear that Texas Democrats would fight tooth and nail to defend voting rights,” Martinez Fischer said.

Now, even as the regular legislative session concludes, the fight is far from over as Abbott plans his special session. Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick has already endorsed Abbott’s plan, and state representative Briscoe Cain, who spearheaded the push for voter restrictions in the House, has tweeted that he was “ready to get back to work”.

“They’re gonna want this really, really bad. They’re gonna want this probably even more now,” said Carisa Lopez, political director of the nonprofit watchdog Texas Freedom Network.

But the special session also provides an opportunity for more scrutiny, especially after Republicans routinely relied on behind closed doors negotiations during the regular session, evading public testimony and accountability.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Bonner said. “And so what we can do in this legislative process is shine a light on these bad actors and voter suppressors, and make them feel the pressure of the entire world watching what’s happening in Texas right now.”

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Advertisment

Recent Posts

  • Indonesia says it will push back Rohingya refugees adrift on leaking boat
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    Indonesian authorities have said they will push a boat containing 120 Rohingya Muslims back to international waters despite fears that it could sink off the country’s northernmost province of Aceh. The boat was reportedly leaking, had a damaged […]
  • Plastic beads could make nets more visible to cetaceans, scientists say
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    Simple plastic beads could save the lives of some of the thousands of porpoises and other cetaceans that get caught in fishing nets each year, scientists say. Harbour porpoises use echolocation to find their prey and for orientation. However, their […]
  • Harry Reid, who led Senate Democrats for 12 years, dies at 82
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    Harry Reid, who emerged from the unforgiving political landscape of Las Vegas, Nevada, to lead the Senate Democrats for 12 turbulent years, died on Tuesday at age 82. Reid died Tuesday, “peacefully” and surrounded by friends “following a courageous, […]
  • Denver gunman who killed five in shooting rampage knew victims
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    A gunman who killed five people and injured two others in a series of shootings in Denver is believed to have targeted the victims based on previous personal and business dealings and was investigated by police twice in the last two years. Denver […]
  • Prince Andrew lawyer seeks to halt US case as accuser ‘lives in Australia’
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    Prince Andrew’s lawyer has called for the US civil case against the royal over alleged sexual assault to be stopped because his accuser is “actually domiciled in Australia”. Virginia Giuffre is suing the Queen’s son for allegedly assaulting her when […]
  • Russian court orders closure of another human rights group
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    A Russian court has ordered the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Centre (MHRC), a day after the supreme court revoked the legal status of its sister organisation, Memorial International. Moscow city court authorised the dissolution of the group […]
  • Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid
    Latest News, World
    December 29, 2021
    The Hong Kong pro-democracy media outlet Stand News has said it will shut down after police raided its offices earlier in the day and arrested senior staff on suspicion of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”. “Because of the situation, […]
  • Manipur NPP leader Letpao Haokip joins BJP
    Latest News, National
    December 29, 2021
    Manipur minister and NPP leader Letpao Haokip on Thursday joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Bhupender Yadav. NPP is BJP’s ally in Manipur and Haokip is the youth affairs and sports minister in the BJP-led government in the state. […]
  • Jharkhand: Rs 25 per litre relief in price of fuel for two wheelers of the poor
    Latest News, National
    December 29, 2021
    Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren Wednesday announced concession of Rs 25 per litre on petrol and diesel prices for two wheelers owned by the poor in the state from Republic Day next year. Soren made the announcement on it on the completion of […]
  • 19-year-old stabbed to death by friend’s father: Kerala Police
    Latest News, National
    December 29, 2021
    A 19-year-old man, who went to meet his friend at her house, was stabbed to death by her father in the wee hours of Wednesday here, police said. Police identified the victim as Aneesh George. He was stabbed to death at the house of Simon Lalu. […]
  • Akhilesh takes Lord Hanuman out on Vijay Yatra
    Latest News, National, Politics
    December 29, 2021
    Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is on a Rath Yatra to boost his chances to return to power in Uttar Pradesh next year. Rath Yatra holds a special political significance in Uttar Pradesh politics. It was a Rath Yatra by veteran Bharatiya […]
  • Paul Bettany: having Johnny Depp texts read aloud in libel trial was ‘an unpleasant feeling’
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    The actor Paul Bettany has spoken for the first time about having the text messages exchanged between himself and Johnny Depp concerning Amber Heard read out at Depp’s libel trial. Bettany, who is currently promoting A Very British Scandal, told the […]
  • Russian court increases jail sentence for Gulag historian
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    A Russian court has increased a jail sentence for the Gulag historian Yury Dmitriyev to a total of 15 years on charges his supporters say are punishment for his work exposing Stalin-era crimes. Supporters say Dmitriyev, 65, is being targeted because […]
  • Jesus statue smashed in spate of attacks on India’s Christian community
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    Festive celebrations were disrupted, Jesus statues were smashed and effigies of Santa Claus were burned in a spate of attacks on India’s Christian community over Christmas. Amid growing intolerance and violence against India’s Christian minority, […]
  • Jean-Marc Vallée, director of Dallas Buyers Club, Wild and Big Little Lies, dies aged 58
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    Jean-Marc Vallée, the Canadian director best known for his work on Matthew McConaughey drama Dallas Buyers Club, has died aged 58. Vallée’s representative, Bumble Ward, said he died suddenly over the weekend in his cabin outside Quebec City. His two […]
  • Palma to limit cruise ships after environmental concerns
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    Officials in the Balearic Islands will seek to limit cruise ships to a maximum of three vessels a day at its largest port, in a deal described as the first of its kind in Spain. The regional government said in a statement that arrivals at Palma in […]
  • Donald Trump golf resorts claimed at least £3.3m in UK furlough support
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    Donald Trump’s loss-making Scottish golf resorts claimed in excess of £3.3m in emergency support from the UK government, to help furlough staff during the Covid pandemic. Company accounts for the former president’s resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire […]
  • Afghan ex-BBC journalist stranded for months due to Home Office scheme delays
    Latest News, World
    December 27, 2021
    An Afghan former BBC journalist who managed to flee the Taliban has been stranded in a refugee camp for months because of delays to a resettlement scheme promised by the UK government. Mudassar Kadir* is the only one of 14 former BBC employees to […]
  • England cricket capitulations have gone from car-crash to commonplace
    Latest News, Sports
    December 26, 2021
    Typical: Christmas evening, you turn on the television and it’s another bloody repeat. Although in fairness to England, pick through the dental records of their latest Ashes capitulation and you might just be able to identify a few distinguishing […]
  • Tennis star Denis Shapovalov tests positive for Covid after arriving in Sydney
    Latest News, Sports
    December 26, 2021
    Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov has announced he has tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Sydney ahead of the Australian Open. The 22-year-old is one of the first overseas players to arrive in Australia and is part of Canada’s team […]

Categories

  • Business (8)
  • Crime (11)
  • Education (1)
  • Health (7)
  • Latest News (396)
  • Lifestyle (6)
  • National (100)
  • Odisha (24)
  • Politics (24)
  • Sports (19)
  • Uncategorized (2)
  • World (209)

© Inter Softech 2021 - All rights reserved. Designed by Inter Softech

MENU
  • Intersoftech
  • World
  • National
  • Business
  • Education
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
Web Design BangladeshBangladesh Online Market