Texas will become the nation’s most populous state to consider a new voting reform bill following the 2020 presidential election, as the state House measure heads to the floor for consideration.
The Texas legislation comes after a bitter battle regarding a voting reform law signed in Georgia in March and a measure signed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday.
The state House plans to vote Thursday on a new bill “that would increase criminal penalties for some voting irregularities,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered his support for election integrity legislation when he said in a March statement, “Our objective in Texas is to ensure that every eligible voter gets to vote and that only eligible ballots are counted.”
He added, “In the 2020 election, we witnessed actions throughout our state that could risk the integrity of our elections and enable voter fraud, which is why I made election integrity an emergency item this session. Thank you to Senator Bettencourt and Representative Cain for their leadership on this important issue and drafting legislation to protect free and fair elections in the state of Texas.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appeared Thursday on Fox News to attack companies fighting against the bill.
Watch: Texas Lt. Governor @DanPatrick Destroys Woke Companies Over New Voting Bill ? pic.twitter.com/3Sj8m5FAwR
— American Wire Politics (@usawirepolitics) May 6, 2021
Opponents claim the bill would make it more difficult for some people to vote.
Rep. Jessica González, a Dallas-area Democrat and House election committee vice-chair, said, “I think it’s a terrible piece of legislation,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported two coalitions of companies were launching efforts to oppose the new law.
“One letter comes from a group of large corporations, including HP, Microsoft, Unilever, Salesforce, Patagonia and Sodexo, as well as local companies and chambers of commerce, and represents the first major coordinated effort among businesses in Texas to take action against the voting proposals,” the newspaper reported.
The second group includes more than 100 Houston-area executives who oppose “voter suppression.”
Two letters from coalitions of Texas employers released today on voter restriction in Texas. One calls on #txlege to be against voting restrictions in principle & the other calls out evidence of voter suppression in the two omnibus voting reform bills, #HB6 & #SB7. #txlege https://t.co/AwxhUyR966
— RA News (@RANewsTX) May 4, 2021
Texas Democrats are encouraging constituents to contact state House members to stop the effort.
HB 6 is now SB 7, and Texas Republicans are trying to rush it through the Texas House. #txlege
Call your Texas State House member today and tell them to vote NO on #SB7 and protect our freedom to vote: https://t.co/hSsNhqXp1z pic.twitter.com/CBHj96abti
— Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats) May 3, 2021
The expected vote in Texas follows a new Florida law signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Florida took action this legislative session to increase transparency and strengthen the security of our elections,” DeSantis said in a statement.
“Floridians can rest assured that our state will remain a leader in ballot integrity,” the Republican said. “Elections should be free and fair, and these changes will ensure this continues to be the case in the Sunshine State.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.