Texas – the second most populous US state in recent days – has become the focus of all American political circles because it is close to adopting one of the most controversial election laws among the US states.
Republicans control the majority of seats in state legislatures and the position of governor, and they are the largest states that vote for Republicans during the past two decades, but there is widespread concern among Republicans about the impact of demographic changes in the state on the future of their continued control over it. The new bill aims to create obstacles to minority voting. Read also Washington Post article: Republicans plot to steal the 2024 election Texas… the Republican Party’s biggest electoral center of gravity After rejecting the Texas lawsuit, the Supreme Court eliminates Trump’s last hopes
Texas
“Republic” .. But for how long?
During the 2012 presidential election, 57.2% of Texas voters voted for Republican candidate Mitt Romney, and the percentage of voting decreased in 2016 for Republican candidate Donald Trump to reach 52.3%, and the decline continued in the 2020 elections, and Trump received only 52%, and the decline in Republican voting rates corresponds to With the continuous increase in the proportions of the non-white population in the state.
And the results of the US census of 2020 – which is conducted every 10 years – revealed that the state’s population reached 29.1 million people.
Between 2000 and 2010, the population of Texas increased by more than 4 million people, to a total population of 25.1 million people, and as a result it obtained 3 additional seats in the House of Representatives, bringing the number of representatives to 38 members.
The state added to its population of 3.5 million people during the last decade, bringing its total population to 29.1 million people, which guarantees it adding two seats in the House of Representatives, bringing the total of state representatives to 40 members, starting from the 2022 elections.
Those born outside the United States make up 4.9 million people, or 17% of the state’s population, and about 8% of families in Texas are families who do not speak English, but rather Spanish as their first language.
Immigrants from the Hispanic minorities make up the largest proportion of the state’s population increase, and they traditionally vote for the Democrats.
The 2020 census revealed that the racial demographics of Texans have changed to be as follows:
- Eggs: 41.2%.
- Hispanic: 39.7%.
- Blacks: 12.9%.
- Asians: 5.2%.
- Others: 1%
Republicans control the local legislature in the state, and among the 31 senators in the Senate, Republicans have a majority of 18 senators to 13 Democrats, and in the state House of Representatives, Republicans have a majority of 83 members to 67 Democrats, and the state’s governor – Greg Abbott – is from the Republican Party. .
What do Texas Republicans want?
Republicans introduced a bill known as SB7, the “Electoral Integrity Protection Act of 2021.” This proposed bill seeks to impose new restrictions on the voting system, while Republicans claim that the proposed bill offers rationale reforms to facilitate voting and make fraud difficult.
Republicans are calling for measures to restrict voting by proving a voter’s nationality and requiring him or her to carry an official state identity card, as well as transparency in voting and vote counting and an open review process.
Also, Republicans say they want to make voting rules “uniform” in all of the state’s 159 counties.
The bill would also set new limits on early voting at the weekend, and the bill would prohibit out-of-car voting in some stations, a mechanism that was used infrequently by non-white voters during the 2020 election.
The bill also prohibits voting before 1 p.m. on Sundays, which voting rights groups warn will affect campaigns called “from prayer to the polls”; Churches have been organizing campaigns to encourage worshipers to pray after Sunday morning prayers.
Biden and Democrats
Biden attacked – during his visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, last Tuesday – the draft resolution, and said, “The right of people of African descent to vote is under unprecedented attack due to laws passed by conservative states that limit access to the polls.” He is being attacked with a force I’ve never seen before.”
Democrats in the Texas local legislature are trying to block the bill, which has the backing of the state’s Republican governor.
Before the bill was submitted for a vote in the Senate last Sunday, the bill was temporarily frozen after Democrats withdrew from the Capitol in Austin, the state capital, in a maneuver to breach the quorum that prevented the final vote on the bill.
However, Republicans intend to call a special session of the state legislature to revive their push for the proposed new regulations.
The possibility of reversing the election results
The bill was introduced on March 11th, and its stated purpose is to “expose fraud and punish fraud”, and Republican lawmakers say their job is to ensure that elections do not turn into a problem that shakes the foundations of American democracy of trust in elections.
While the text of the law included a part that includes a mechanism that enables elections to be annulled and results to be reversed, in the event that “the number of votes – illegally cast in the elections – is equal to or greater than the number of votes needed to change the election result, the court may declare the election null and void.” without trying to determine how individual voters will vote.”
What’s Next?
Democrats view Texas as a big battle that must not be undone or defeated without highlighting Republicans’ quest to overcome the state’s continuing overpopulation of minority and immigrant citizens, and the inevitable decline in white voter turnout.
The next steps from both parties prove the answer to the question. Will future elections remain a mechanism for selecting governors and legislative representatives, or will they be turned into the doorway to harming American democracy?