Texas Democrats Go To War With GOP Governor Over Voting Rights

Texas Democratic legislators, including State Representative Rafael Anchía, have fled the state in an effort to block a discriminatory election bill Backed by Republicans. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that Democratic lawmakers who have left the state "will be arrested" upon their return as he pushes ahead with changes in voting laws. Sam Seder and the Majority Report crew discuss this.

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Sam Seder: The real extant issue, is what are Democrats going to do about the franchise? The votes. We have seen, and Ari Berman will tell us the details on this, of voting restrictions across the country. And this is just the beginning. The Supreme Court has made it very clear as to how open they are to disenfranchising people. And the real questions ultimately gonna be, what are the Democrats gonna do about it? Are they gonna do anything about it?

Emma Vigeland: Biden's supposed to be giving a speech about this, and my prediction is that it's going to be gobbledy-gook. What can you do without outright calling for an end to the filibuster, which he's not going to do?

Sam Seder: Well, this is the bottom line. This is the bottom line, ultimately. What are they gonna do about it? Are they gonna give a gobbledy-gook speech or even a good speech? Here is Texas state Representative Rafael Anchía and this at least what the Texas Democrats are doing. Every time Greg Abbot has called, is calling into session, calling the lawmakers into session to vote on a restrictive voting rights bill, the Democrats have said, "We're gonna leave." And deny you quorum. And this is one of those Democrats right now.

Rafael Anchía: And we are not going to buckle to the big lie in the state of Texas. The big lie that has resulted...that has resulted in anti-democratic legislation throughout the United States. We said, "No," when the big lie came to the Capitol in Texas and darkened our door. We said, "No," during the regular session, and we are saying, "No," during the regular session.

Sam Seder: And the thing to remember is in Texas, is these guys aren't full-time lawmakers as far as I know. They're not there that often.

Emma Vigeland: And there's a finite period of time where anything can get passed in Texas.

Sam Seder: However, Governor Greg Abbot, who remember now is facing a challenge from his right flank: Allen West, who used to be from Florida. Abbot is now saying that he's going to continue to call special sessions. Here's Greg Abbott.

Greg Abbott: What the House of Representatives can do, what the Speaker can do, is issue a call to have these members arrested. In addition to that, however, I can and I will continue to call special session after special session after special session, all the way up until election next year. And so if these people want to be hanging out wherever they're hanging out, on this taxpayer paid junket, they're going to have to be prepared to do it for well over a year. And as soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done.

Sam Seder: This is gonna get interesting. So the bottom line is, the Texas State Legislature meets for up to 140 days in every odd-number year.

Emma Vigeland: A system that makes sense.

Sam Seder: Of course! Odd-number years are the ones that desperately need legislation. But the governor can convene lawmakers for a 30-day special session. And I think he can do maybe an unlimited one. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens with this whole arresting and all of that stuff. This harkens back, when Wisconsin lawmakers did this, trying to stop Scott Walker from turning Wisconsin into a Right to Work state. The difference here, in addition to the specifics on the ground, is that broadly speaking, there's a lot more national support for what's going on in Texas.