WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.720 JUDY WOODRUFF: The Texas legislature gaveled back to order today for a special session 00:04.720 --> 00:09.720 to address a laundry list of Republican priorities left undone when lawmakers left Austin in May, 00:11.840 --> 00:15.200 chief among them, an update to the state's voting laws. 00:15.200 --> 00:16.880 Lisa Desjardins has the story. 00:16.880 --> 00:19.840 LISA DESJARDINS: Judy, Democrats in Texas 00:19.840 --> 00:24.000 blocked the last voting bill by walking out of the chamber before a deadline. 00:24.000 --> 00:27.840 Now Republicans are back with a new version, House Bill 3. 00:27.840 --> 00:32.840 It includes I.D. requirements for mail-in ballots and a ban on 24-hour and drive-through 00:33.440 --> 00:38.440 voting. But this version drops some previous ideas to limit Sunday voting. 00:38.480 --> 00:41.040 The debate over voting rights remains hot. 00:41.040 --> 00:45.295 Vice President Harris weighed in on the Texas bill today during a speech in Washington today. 00:45.295 --> 00:47.920 KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States: You know what's going on in Texas right 00:47.920 --> 00:52.920 now. This all is designed, I believe, to make it harder for you to vote, so that you don't vote. 01:00.800 --> 01:05.440 JUDY WOODRUFF: But Republicans, including the bill's original sponsor, reject that argument. 01:05.440 --> 01:08.720 Here's State Senator Bryan Hughes in a recent interview with the "NewsHour": 01:08.720 --> 01:10.960 STATE SEN. BRYAN HUGHES (R-TX): I hear that generalization, 01:10.960 --> 01:12.960 but no one has shown me any evidence of it. 01:12.960 --> 01:17.440 This bill says that, in those urban counties, that the polling places have 01:17.440 --> 01:21.360 to be distributed evenly across the county. Now, that's just straight-up 01:21.360 --> 01:26.320 fairness based on where the voters live, regardless of their race, of their party, 01:26.320 --> 01:31.320 of their ethnic background, their religion. This is about making the system fair for all voters. 01:31.680 --> 01:35.600 LISA DESJARDINS: State Representative Chris Turner is chair of the Texas House 01:35.600 --> 01:40.320 Democratic Caucus and led the walkout in May that blocked that other voting bill. 01:40.320 --> 01:41.360 He joins me now. 01:42.080 --> 01:46.240 Representative Turner, Republicans say they are determined to pass new 01:46.240 --> 01:51.240 voting laws. Can you block them this time and how? Our audience likes specifics. 01:51.280 --> 01:54.400 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER (D-TX): As you know, Democrats were successful in blocking 01:55.360 --> 01:58.800 the same type of voter legislation at the end of our regular session, 01:58.800 --> 02:01.200 as you have already told your viewers. 02:01.200 --> 02:05.120 And what I can tell you is that, today, on the first day of this special session, 02:05.920 --> 02:10.920 that Democrats in the House and the Senate here in Texas are more unified than ever, 02:11.520 --> 02:16.520 more determined than ever to do all we can to block Republican attempts to make it 02:16.960 --> 02:21.960 more difficult to vote in the state of Texas, a state that is already very difficult to vote in, 02:22.720 --> 02:26.080 because we already have very restrictive voting laws on the books. 02:26.640 --> 02:31.640 So, we are going to fight every step of the way. We're going to leave no stone unturned 02:32.480 --> 02:37.480 in our mission to defend the rights of our constituents to cast ballots in a free, 02:38.400 --> 02:43.400 safe and secure election. And we are going to take it a day at a time. And 02:45.200 --> 02:48.640 Republicans can expect a big fight from us on these bills. 02:48.640 --> 02:50.480 LISA DESJARDINS: You know, since you walked out, 02:50.480 --> 02:53.280 the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court, has ruled 02:53.280 --> 02:57.520 in favor of Republicans and some restrictions they want on voting laws in other states. 02:57.520 --> 03:00.800 Also, there is more conservative pressure on your Republican governor. 03:01.600 --> 03:04.800 Could you have opened a Pandora's box here? Could it be that Republicans 03:04.800 --> 03:08.320 may be more bold now about voting restrictions and limits? 03:08.320 --> 03:13.280 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: Yes, I think, you are absolutely right that our governor is reacting 03:13.280 --> 03:18.280 to his 2022 primary election, where he already has two opponents in the Republican primary. 03:20.480 --> 03:25.480 And he is just simply in a race to the bottom with not only his primary opponents, 03:26.640 --> 03:29.040 but I think other Republican leaders around the country, 03:29.920 --> 03:34.920 in trying to appeal to and placate Donald Trump and the Donald Trump base, which 03:36.560 --> 03:41.560 essentially now is the Republican Party. And so that's a real factor that we have to contend with, 03:42.960 --> 03:46.720 because Republicans control all levers of government in Texas presently. 03:47.680 --> 03:51.600 But I think that, with respect to the court decision, 03:52.560 --> 03:56.880 while that was obviously not a decision anyone of us wanted to see, it is very important for 03:56.880 --> 04:01.360 Republicans to remember Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act remains in tact. The court decision 04:01.360 --> 04:06.360 did not in any way nullify Section 2, like they did with Section 5 several years ago. 04:07.600 --> 04:11.840 And so we still have a Constitution in this country. We still have 04:12.560 --> 04:17.440 Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. And Republicans in Texas shamefully have a track 04:17.440 --> 04:22.440 record of passing laws that have been found by federal courts to be intentionally discriminatory 04:23.120 --> 04:28.080 against African American and Hispanic voters in Texas under both the Voting Rights Act and the 04:28.080 --> 04:32.800 Constitution, whether that's redistricting plans over the last decade, or photo voter I.D. law. 04:34.000 --> 04:38.960 Greg Abbott's secretary of state two years ago attempted a voter purge that the federal courts 04:38.960 --> 04:43.960 had to stop. So, there is a track record in Texas of Republicans violating the Voting Rights Act 04:45.760 --> 04:50.760 and the Constitution. There is a track record of courts continually defending and pushing back on 04:51.920 --> 04:54.800 those Republican attempts. So, they ought to be cautious about what they try to do. 04:54.800 --> 04:56.480 LISA DESJARDINS: One final question. 04:56.480 --> 05:01.480 The speaker of the House there in Texas has the power to compel, use state troopers to 05:01.600 --> 05:06.600 force members back into the chamber, trying to avoid what you did last time. This is a serious 05:06.720 --> 05:11.720 question. Is this issue worth yourself moving to another state or hiding out to avoid that? 05:14.080 --> 05:15.040 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: You are right. The 05:15.040 --> 05:18.640 speaker definitely has the power to compel a quorum. 05:18.640 --> 05:22.560 I think there is different -- there's -- it is debatable how he can go about doing that or how 05:22.560 --> 05:27.560 any speaker can go about doing that. But the speaker does have authority to compel a quorum. 05:27.680 --> 05:32.680 What I would say is that those discussions, it would be premature right now to speculate. 05:34.640 --> 05:37.840 But we're never going to take anything off the table at the same time. 05:38.400 --> 05:41.840 And, as I say, it's a 30-day session. It will go quickly. 05:41.840 --> 05:45.520 We are going to take it a day at a time and make the best decisions we can day by day. 05:45.520 --> 05:47.280 LISA DESJARDINS: I didn't hear a no there. It 05:47.280 --> 05:50.400 sounds like it's going to be a hot summer there in Texas. 05:50.400 --> 05:53.600 Representative Chris Turner of the House Democratic Caucus in Texas, 05:53.600 --> 05:54.480 thank you for joining us. 05:54.480 --> 05:59.480 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: Thank you for having me.