JUDY WOODRUFF: The Texas
legislature gaveled back to
order today for a special session

to address a laundry list of
Republican priorities left undone
when lawmakers left Austin in May,

chief among them, an update
to the state's voting laws.

Lisa Desjardins has the story.

LISA DESJARDINS: Judy, Democrats in Texas

blocked the last voting bill by walking
out of the chamber before a deadline.

Now Republicans are back with
a new version, House Bill 3.

It includes I.D. requirements
for mail-in ballots and a ban
on 24-hour and drive-through

voting. But this version drops some
previous ideas to limit Sunday voting.

The debate over voting rights remains hot.

Vice President Harris weighed in
on the Texas bill today during
a speech in Washington today.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President
of the United States: You know
what's going on in Texas right

now. This all is designed, I
believe, to make it harder for you
to vote, so that you don't vote.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But Republicans,
including the bill's original
sponsor, reject that argument.

Here's State Senator Bryan Hughes in a
recent interview with the "NewsHour":

STATE SEN. BRYAN HUGHES (R-TX):
I hear that generalization,

but no one has shown
me any evidence of it.

This bill says that, in those urban
counties, that the polling places have

to be distributed evenly across the
county. Now, that's just straight-up

fairness based on where the voters live,
regardless of their race, of their party,

of their ethnic background, their
religion. This is about making
the system fair for all voters.

LISA DESJARDINS: State Representative
Chris Turner is chair of the Texas House

Democratic Caucus and led the walkout in
May that blocked that other voting bill.

He joins me now.

Representative Turner, Republicans
say they are determined to pass new

voting laws. Can you block them this time
and how? Our audience likes specifics.

STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER
(D-TX): As you know, Democrats
were successful in blocking

the same type of voter legislation
at the end of our regular session,

as you have already told your viewers.

And what I can tell you is that, today,
on the first day of this special session,

that Democrats in the House and the Senate
here in Texas are more unified than ever,

more determined than ever to do all we can
to block Republican attempts to make it

more difficult to vote in the
state of Texas, a state that is
already very difficult to vote in,

because we already have very
restrictive voting laws on the books.

So, we are going to fight every
step of the way. We're going
to leave no stone unturned

in our mission to defend the rights of our
constituents to cast ballots in a free,

safe and secure election. And we are
going to take it a day at a time. And

Republicans can expect a big
fight from us on these bills.

LISA DESJARDINS: You know,
since you walked out,

the Supreme Court, the U.S.
Supreme Court, has ruled

in favor of Republicans and
some restrictions they want on
voting laws in other states.

Also, there is more conservative
pressure on your Republican governor.

Could you have opened a Pandora's box
here? Could it be that Republicans

may be more bold now about
voting restrictions and limits?

STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER: Yes, I
think, you are absolutely right
that our governor is reacting

to his 2022 primary election,
where he already has two opponents
in the Republican primary.

And he is just simply in a
race to the bottom with not
only his primary opponents,

but I think other Republican
leaders around the country,

in trying to appeal to and placate Donald
Trump and the Donald Trump base, which

essentially now is the Republican
Party. And so that's a real factor
that we have to contend with,

because Republicans control all levers
of government in Texas presently.

But I think that, with
respect to the court decision,

while that was obviously not a
decision anyone of us wanted to
see, it is very important for

Republicans to remember Section 2
of the Voting Rights Act remains
in tact. The court decision

did not in any way nullify Section 2, like
they did with Section 5 several years ago.

And so we still have a Constitution
in this country. We still have

Section 2 of the Voting
Rights Act. And Republicans in
Texas shamefully have a track

record of passing laws that have
been found by federal courts to
be intentionally discriminatory

against African American and
Hispanic voters in Texas under
both the Voting Rights Act and the

Constitution, whether that's
redistricting plans over the last
decade, or photo voter I.D. law.

Greg Abbott's secretary of state
two years ago attempted a voter
purge that the federal courts

had to stop. So, there is a track
record in Texas of Republicans
violating the Voting Rights Act

and the Constitution. There is a
track record of courts continually
defending and pushing back on

those Republican attempts. So, they ought
to be cautious about what they try to do.

LISA DESJARDINS: One final question.

The speaker of the House there
in Texas has the power to
compel, use state troopers to

force members back into the
chamber, trying to avoid what you
did last time. This is a serious

question. Is this issue worth
yourself moving to another state
or hiding out to avoid that?

STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER:
You are right. The

speaker definitely has the
power to compel a quorum.

I think there is different --
there's -- it is debatable how
he can go about doing that or how

any speaker can go about doing
that. But the speaker does have
authority to compel a quorum.

What I would say is that
those discussions, it would be
premature right now to speculate.

But we're never going to take anything
off the table at the same time.

And, as I say, it's a 30-day
session. It will go quickly.

We are going to take it a day
at a time and make the best
decisions we can day by day.

LISA DESJARDINS: I didn't
hear a no there. It

sounds like it's going to be
a hot summer there in Texas.

Representative Chris Turner of the
House Democratic Caucus in Texas,

thank you for joining us.

STATE REP. CHRIS TURNER:
Thank you for having me.