O'Rourke to host Texas voting rights rally as U.S. Democrats push
reforms
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[June 18, 2021]
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) - Former presidential candidate
Beto O'Rourke will headline a voting rights rally in Texas on Sunday, a
day before Democrats in the U.S. Senate take up a sweeping bill aimed at
combating new Republican-backed voting restrictions in that state and
others across the country.
Democratic lawmakers in Texas staged a dramatic, 11th-hour walkout as
the legislative session was ending last month, blocking the Republican
majority from passing a wide-ranging bill that would have eliminated
drive-through and overnight voting, made it easier for judges to
overturn election results and given partisan poll watchers more access
to polling sites.
Texas is part of a national push by Republicans to tighten voting laws
after former President Donald Trump's false claim that he lost last
year's presidential election due to voter fraud. Republican-controlled
legislatures have passed new rules in several battleground states,
including Georgia, Arizona and Florida.
The reprieve in Texas is likely temporary. Republican leaders, including
Governor Greg Abbott, have said they will hold a special session to take
up the legislation again.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/18/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
But in an interview on Thursday, O'Rourke, a former Democratic
congressman who ran for president in 2020 and has not ruled out a
gubernatorial campaign challenging Abbott in 2022, said he has already
seen signs that the grassroots effort against the bill is working.
A handful of Republican lawmakers have backed away from some provisions
in the measure, such as a prohibition on early voting on Sundays before
1 p.m. – a measure widely seen as targeting Black churches' "souls to
the polls" drives.
"That's a good sign that this public pressure works," said O'Rourke, who
has visited 18 cities and towns in recent weeks to hold voting rights
events. "This state is the epicenter of the fight for voting rights, and
if this state comes together in numbers large enough, I really do think
that helps advance the cause."
Organizers say they expect thousands of attendees at the weekend rally
in Austin, the state capital.
The U.S. Senate is expected on Monday to begin bringing a sweeping
Democratic-sponsored election reform bill up for a vote. The
legislation, known as the For the People Act, would expand ballot access
and outlaw partisan redistricting, among other measures.
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![](../images/061821PIX/news_I15.jpg)
Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke speaks before a Democratic Party
fundraising dinner, the Liberty and Justice Celebration, in Des
Moines, Iowa, U.S. November 1, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Thayer
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The bill's prospects in the Senate, however, are dim.
Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote with Republicans
universally opposed, and moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has
already said he does not support the legislation.
On Wednesday, Manchin suggested a series of revisions to the bill,
though any compromise would require at least 10 Republican votes
under the Senate's filibuster rules.
O'Rourke said Manchin's proposal shows the bill's chances are
improving.
"I think this is a very good sign, especially for everyone who was
wanting us to believe the sky was falling and that this would never
pass," he said.
O'Rourke said he has had conversations with members of the Biden
administration, which has called on Congress to pass voting
protections.
Democratic President Joe Biden has put Vice President Kamala Harris
in charge of a national voting rights push; she met on Wednesday
with 16 Texas Democratic legislators who participated in last
month's walkout.
O'Rourke, who became a Democratic star when he narrowly lost a U.S.
Senate race in 2018 to Republican Ted Cruz, said he is focused on
voting rights at the moment, not his political future.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/18/images/ads/current/2021_lda_Businessdirectory.png)
"After that work is done, I will think about what it is I can do to
further help here in Texas," he said, adding that running for office
is one possibility.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan
Oatis)
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