Texas may become the next state to officially protect the vote from cheating. On Thursday, the state Senate passed a new bill that Senator Bryan Hughes (R) says will make it “easy to vote and hard to cheat” in the Lone Star State.
Joe Biden lost Texas by a narrow margin in the 2020 election as many pointed out suspicious activity in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and all around the country. Recently, Georgia took action and passed hundreds of pages of law intended to protect the vote. These include voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots to ensure the person sending one in is the actual voter, tighter controls on ballot harvesting and dropboxes, and more.
“This bill is about making it easy to vote and hard to cheat. We had a long debate. Scores of amendments were offered, and at the end of the day, the Texas Senate passed a strong election integrity bill that we can be proud of,” says the Texas state Senator. “It heads over to the House now for more work, and election integrity bills continue to move through the process.”
NBC News says the bill “banned overnight early voting hours and drive-thru early voting, while restricting how election officials handle mail voting.” The bill prohibits “proactively send[ing] applications to vote by mail to voters, even if they qualify” as well — a tactic used to confuse and manipulate voters.
“Overall, this bill is designed to address areas throughout the process where bad actors can take advantage, so Texans can feel confident that their elections are fair, honest and open,” Hughes says, assuring Americans that the bill will ensure “every Texan has a fair and equal opportunity to vote, regardless of where they live in the state.”
Democrats, naturally, hate the bill. “As I see this bill, it’s a pure case of suppression,” Texas State Senator Borris Miles says. “There are some things in here that are really offensive. This hurts to the core.” He didn’t elaborate.
It’s unclear what the bill will look like after changes are made, but one thing is for certain — Americans believe that the vote count and the election should be something we can trust.