'Any real, freedom-loving Texan should be ashamed': Hidalgo criticizes voting reform bill's passage

Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County condemned and criticized the passage of a Republican-backed election security bill on Aug. 27. 

Following months of heated debate and two Democrat-led walkouts, the lower chamber of the state legislature passed the Republican-led election overhaul bill last week that will implement new voting restrictions such as limits on early voting hours and additional voter ID requirements for mail-in voting, according to The Hill.

"Any real, freedom-loving Texan should be ashamed of themselves for working to suppress voting rights, period. But especially today, on LBJ's birthday," Judge Hidalgo said in a tweet on Aug. 27.

The bill, known as SB1, passed on an 80-41 vote and will now be passed on to Gov. Greg Abbott for full passage. Following the 2020 election, the new voting restrictions will increase the already-strict regulations within the state of Texas. 

The passage of SB1 comes more than a month after repeated walkouts staged by Democratic legislators who opposed the restrictions and denied a quorum to various degrees, according to NPR.

In July, a special session of the legislature was called by Abbott in order to consider the election bill but was delayed by a group of 50 House Democrats fleeing the state to Washington, D.C., where they convened with members of Congress and Vice President Kamala Harris in an effort to push for voting rights established through federal legislation, according to The Hill.

The Democrat-led standoff lasted 38 days until enough members of the Democratic Party returned to Austin last week, and enabled GOP lawmakers to move ahead with the passage of their bill in the GOP-led Senate.

Further election restrictions include bans on pandemic-created practices like drive-thru voting, as well as new limitations on absentee ballot applications, authorization of partisan poll watchers and harsher penalties for vote fraud. These restrictions have been cited as disproportionately harmful toward voters of color and make it difficult for them to cast their ballots, according to The Hill. 

SB1 comes in the wake of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that was passed by the House last week that could overhaul parts of Texas's election security bill.