Abbott 'proud' to sign highly controversial voting bill into law

Gov. Greg Abbott has placed his signature on Senate Bill 1 on Sept. 7 after three months and two special sessions. It is supposed to take effect three months after the special legislative session, which will be right before the 2022 primary elections.

"Proud to sign Senate Bill 1 into law, which will uphold the integrity of our elections in Texas. Thanks to @SenBryanHughes and Rep. Murr for your leadership on this issue. This law will make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in the Lone Star State," Abbott tweeted.

The Democrats had forced the Republicans into attending two more legislative sessions because of this bill, during which there were plenty of clashes, but the governor's signature finally ends all feud.

"One thing that all Texans can agree is that we must have trust and confidence in our elections. The bill that I'm about to sign helps to achieve that goal. One thing that it does is, it ensures that every eligible voter will have the opportunity to vote," Abbott said.

This new law will [SB1] empower partisan poll watchers, bring in obstacles on mail-in ballots and ban drive-thru and 24-hour voting. However, there have been several lawsuits filed after Abbott's signature on this bill.

"SB 1 is an arduous law designed to limit Tejanos' ability to exercise their full citizenship. Not only are we filing suit to protect the right to vote for all people of color, and the additional 250,000 young Latino Tejanos who will reach voting age in 2022, but to protect every Texan's right to vote," said Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino, which is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed in Austin on Sept. 7.

SB 1 relates "to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses; providing civil penalties."

According to reports, the law will take effect in the month of December. Texas GOP leaders have sponsored it heavily, and the direct result of this law would be a tighter leash on ballot access and administration. The Democrats claim that this would disenfranchise black, brown and disabled voters.

The passage and the signing of SB1 follow two Democratic walkouts to break the quorum.