Abbott: 'Democrats must get back to the job they were elected to do'

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) took state Democrats to task chastising them for journeying to Washington D.C. on July 12 in an attempt to avoid approval of what they contend is restrictive voter registration proposed by Republicans – by running out the clock in the current special legislative session.

Titled Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3, the legislation is intended to tighten Texas voting laws. Republicans maintain the legislation will prevent voter fraud. Democrats contend it’s an end-run around democracy. President Joe Biden on July 13 referred to it as an attempt to change how votes are counted, to a partisan system in which Republicans can discount votes they don’t like.

However, Abbott compared the flight of Democrats to the nation’s capital as an abandonment of responsibility.  

“Democrats must get back to the job they were elected to do,” Abbott said in a tweet. “Their constituents must not be denied important resources simply because their elected representatives refused to show up to work.”

The Texas Dems hope to delay a vote on the Republican-backed voter requirements until the current special legislative ends on Aug. 6. Instead, they're appealing to federal legislators in Congress to enact overhauls of voting rights and reinstate protections for voters of color.

Titled “For the People Act,” a proposed Democrat-supported bill its proponents contend would expand voting rights, reduce money-pandering in politics, limit gerrymandering (redrawing districts) for political gain and create new ethics rules for elected officials.

Abbott threatened to send marshals to arrest Democrats who left Texas for Washington D.C. to avoid approval of the Republican supported legislation, even though Texas officers have no jurisdiction in the nation’s capital.

The Hill quoted Texas House Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock) as saying he and other Democrats were in Washington, D.C. to break the quorum vote and kill what he termed the Republicans’ “Voter Suppression Bill.”

“We’re flying to D.C. to demand Congress pass the For The People Act and save our democracy,” he said.