1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,720 JUDY WOODRUFF: The Texas legislature gaveled back to order today for a special session 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:09,720 to address a laundry list of Republican priorities left undone when lawmakers left Austin in May, 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,200 chief among them, an update to the state's voting laws. 4 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:16,880 Lisa Desjardins has the story. 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,840 LISA DESJARDINS: Judy, Democrats in Texas 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:24,000 blocked the last voting bill by walking out of the chamber before a deadline. 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,840 Now Republicans are back with a new version, House Bill 3. 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:32,840 It includes I.D. requirements for mail-in ballots and a ban on 24-hour and drive-through 9 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,440 voting. But this version drops some previous ideas to limit Sunday voting. 10 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,040 The debate over voting rights remains hot. 11 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,295 Vice President Harris weighed in on the Texas bill today during a speech in Washington today. 12 00:00:45,295 --> 00:00:47,920 KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States: You know what's going on in Texas right 13 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:52,920 now. This all is designed, I believe, to make it harder for you to vote, so that you don't vote. 14 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,440 JUDY WOODRUFF: But Republicans, including the bill's original sponsor, reject that argument. 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,720 Here's State Senator Bryan Hughes in a recent interview with the "NewsHour": 16 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,960 STATE SEN. BRYAN HUGHES (R-TX): I hear that generalization, 17 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:12,960 but no one has shown me any evidence of it. 18 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:17,440 This bill says that, in those urban counties, that the polling places have 19 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,360 to be distributed evenly across the county. Now, that's just straight-up 20 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:26,320 fairness based on where the voters live, regardless of their race, of their party, 21 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:31,320 of their ethnic background, their religion. This is about making the system fair for all voters. 22 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,600 LISA DESJARDINS: State Representative Chris Turner is chair of the Texas House 23 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,320 Democratic Caucus and led the walkout in May that blocked that other voting bill. 24 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:41,360 He joins me now. 25 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,240 Representative Turner, Republicans say they are determined to pass new 26 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:51,240 voting laws. Can you block them this time and how? Our audience likes specifics. 27 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,400 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER (D-TX): As you know, Democrats were successful in blocking 28 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,800 the same type of voter legislation at the end of our regular session, 29 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,200 as you have already told your viewers. 30 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,120 And what I can tell you is that, today, on the first day of this special session, 31 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:10,920 that Democrats in the House and the Senate here in Texas are more unified than ever, 32 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,520 more determined than ever to do all we can to block Republican attempts to make it 33 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,960 more difficult to vote in the state of Texas, a state that is already very difficult to vote in, 34 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,080 because we already have very restrictive voting laws on the books. 35 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:31,640 So, we are going to fight every step of the way. We're going to leave no stone unturned 36 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:37,480 in our mission to defend the rights of our constituents to cast ballots in a free, 37 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,400 safe and secure election. And we are going to take it a day at a time. And 38 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,640 Republicans can expect a big fight from us on these bills. 39 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:50,480 LISA DESJARDINS: You know, since you walked out, 40 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,280 the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court, has ruled 41 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,520 in favor of Republicans and some restrictions they want on voting laws in other states. 42 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,800 Also, there is more conservative pressure on your Republican governor. 43 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,800 Could you have opened a Pandora's box here? Could it be that Republicans 44 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,320 may be more bold now about voting restrictions and limits? 45 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:13,280 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: Yes, I think, you are absolutely right that our governor is reacting 46 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,280 to his 2022 primary election, where he already has two opponents in the Republican primary. 47 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:25,480 And he is just simply in a race to the bottom with not only his primary opponents, 48 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,040 but I think other Republican leaders around the country, 49 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:34,920 in trying to appeal to and placate Donald Trump and the Donald Trump base, which 50 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:41,560 essentially now is the Republican Party. And so that's a real factor that we have to contend with, 51 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,720 because Republicans control all levers of government in Texas presently. 52 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,600 But I think that, with respect to the court decision, 53 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,880 while that was obviously not a decision anyone of us wanted to see, it is very important for 54 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:01,360 Republicans to remember Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act remains in tact. The court decision 55 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:06,360 did not in any way nullify Section 2, like they did with Section 5 several years ago. 56 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,840 And so we still have a Constitution in this country. We still have 57 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:17,440 Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. And Republicans in Texas shamefully have a track 58 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,440 record of passing laws that have been found by federal courts to be intentionally discriminatory 59 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:28,080 against African American and Hispanic voters in Texas under both the Voting Rights Act and the 60 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,800 Constitution, whether that's redistricting plans over the last decade, or photo voter I.D. law. 61 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,960 Greg Abbott's secretary of state two years ago attempted a voter purge that the federal courts 62 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:43,960 had to stop. So, there is a track record in Texas of Republicans violating the Voting Rights Act 63 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:50,760 and the Constitution. There is a track record of courts continually defending and pushing back on 64 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,800 those Republican attempts. So, they ought to be cautious about what they try to do. 65 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,480 LISA DESJARDINS: One final question. 66 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:01,480 The speaker of the House there in Texas has the power to compel, use state troopers to 67 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,600 force members back into the chamber, trying to avoid what you did last time. This is a serious 68 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,720 question. Is this issue worth yourself moving to another state or hiding out to avoid that? 69 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:15,040 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: You are right. The 70 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,640 speaker definitely has the power to compel a quorum. 71 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,560 I think there is different -- there's -- it is debatable how he can go about doing that or how 72 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,560 any speaker can go about doing that. But the speaker does have authority to compel a quorum. 73 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,680 What I would say is that those discussions, it would be premature right now to speculate. 74 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,840 But we're never going to take anything off the table at the same time. 75 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,840 And, as I say, it's a 30-day session. It will go quickly. 76 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,520 We are going to take it a day at a time and make the best decisions we can day by day. 77 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:47,280 LISA DESJARDINS: I didn't hear a no there. It 78 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,400 sounds like it's going to be a hot summer there in Texas. 79 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,600 Representative Chris Turner of the House Democratic Caucus in Texas, 80 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:54,480 thank you for joining us. 81 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:59,480 STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: Thank you for having me.