This afternoon, the Texas House passed Senate Bill 1 (SB1), the voter suppression bill, moving the Governor’s anti-democracy agenda one step closer to reality.
Despite a historic quorum break from House members, a fifteen hour filibuster from Senator Alvarado, and hundreds of testimonies against SB1, Texas lawmakers rammed this measure forward today, making it harder to vote in the state that already has the most restrictive voting laws in the nation.
SB 1 outlaws local efforts to make it easier to vote, limits access to vote-by-mail, and emboldens partisan poll watchers—measures that disproportionately impact youth, people of color, low-wage workers, and people with disabilities. It is no less than an attempt to silence voters, attack marginalized communities, and initiate a new phase of Jim Crow.
The bill is also part of a broader anti-democratic agenda designed to erode Texans’ rights, particularly the rights of young Texans, one that includes attempts to ban trans youth from school sports and to censor classroom conversations on race.
Texans deserve better. We deserve a vibrant democracy where voting is safe and accessible, and where our institutions enact policies that encourage everyone to participate in our collective civic life.
We will not forget this attack on our communities, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to fully realize a democracy that embraces every Texan’s voice.