'Now we continue the fight': Texas House of Representatives return to start work on priority elections bill

After a six-week coup of Texas House Democrats, enough members of the House of Representatives have returned to the state capitol, leaving Republicans ready to start working toward passing the priority elections bill. 

Democrat Reps. Garnet Coleman, Armando Walle and Ana Hernandez were the latest to rejoin the House at the capitol on Thursday, Aug. 19, making the House able to meet its quorum and get back to work, according to the Texas Tribune. 

"Take note #LakeTravis. The #txlege House finally reached a quorum. Notably absent was the state representative for our area – Vikki Goodwin. It’s time to fire her," Lake Travis GOP tweeted. 

Texas legislators were able to re-establish a quorum after a 99-0 vote to resume business as usual, despite 49 lawmakers still being absent from the proceedings, Fox News reported. 

"Our efforts were successful and served as the primary catalyst to push Congress to take action on federal voter protection legislation," a statement from Coleman, Hernandez and Walle said, as reported by Fox News. "Now, we continue the fight on the House Floor."

While some Democrats have yet to return, Coleman, Hernandez and Walle pointed to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases as the reason for the remaining Democrats not returning. 

"I will continue to stay in D.C. to encourage Congress to pass HR4 John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act on next week," Rep. Ron Reynolds told Fox News. "The majority of our Democratic Caucus will not return to the House floor for the remainder of the Suppression Session."

To help with the quorum, state Rep. Steve Allison (R-San Antonio) was even present to help sway the numbers and get the number of representatives needed, despite having tested positive for COVID-19 a day before, the Texas Tribune reported. Allison stayed in a side room isolated as to not potentially infect other members of the House. 

The House's quorum potentially signals an ending for Democrats who have tried to avoid passing the GOP priority elections bills, as the House will reconvene on Monday, Aug. 23 after the adjournment on Aug. 19. 

The elections bill, if passed, would outlaw local voting options intended to expand voting access and access for partisan poll watchers as way to help secure "election integrity," the Texas Tribune reported.