The Republican-led legislature in Texas is about to one-up Georgia. New measures under consideration Austin would make Texas, according to the New York Times, one of the hardest states in the country to cast a ballot.
“In Texas, Republicans have taken the rare tack of outlining restrictions that would apply only to counties with population of more than one million, targeting the booming and increasingly diverse metropolitan areas of Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas.”
Those counties also lean Democratic. Among the restrictions being discussed are a ban on 24-hour voting, a tool that helped minority voters cast ballots after work. Also proposed is a ban on drive-through voting and limits on voting machine distribution.
“The bills also include a measure that would make it much more difficult to remove a poll watcher for improper conduct. Partisan poll watchers, who are trained and authorized to observe the election on behalf of a candidate or party, have occasionally crossed the line into voter intimidation or other types of misbehavior; Harris County (Houston) elections officials said they had received several complaints about Republican poll watchers last year.”
[T]he majority of those who used drive-through or 24-hour voting — the early voting methods the Republican bills would prohibit — were people of color.
Texas civil rights project
24-hour voting was one of several new ways Harris County initiated to help people vote during the pandemic. And the results helped increase turnout by more than 10 percent. County-wide, more than 70% of voters cast ballots. And there was no evidence of fraud.