After A Bitter Fight, The Texas House Passes A Restrictive Voting Bill

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/27/ [login to see] /after-a-bitter-fight-the-texas-house-passes-a-restrictive-voting-bill
Months of partisan battles in Texas concluded late Thursday as Republican House members passed new voting restrictions, moving the legislation closer to the governor's desk.

The vote in the Texas House on the nearly 50-page bill, SB1, was 79-37 (mostly on party lines) and follows historic efforts by Democrats to block it.

In late May, House Democrats staged a dramatic, 11th-hour walkout to stop a vote before the legislative session's conclusion. GOP Gov. Greg Abbott then called a special session, but dozens of Democrats fled the state, infuriating Republicans and denying them a quorum to conduct business at the state Capitol. The standoff lasted 38 days, until enough Democrats returned to Austin last week, enabling GOP lawmakers to move ahead on their bill.