Austin (WBAP/KLIF) – Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign Senate Bill 1 – otherwise known as the election integrity bill – into law later this morning.
The governor will be joined in Tyler for the signing ceremony by the bill’s authors, State Senator Bryan Hughes and Representative Andrew Murr.
Republicans touted the bill as effort to make Texas elections more secure. A press released from Governor Abbott’s office reads:
“Senate Bill 1 creates uniform statewide voting hours, maintains and expands voting access for registered voters that need assistance, prohibits drive-through voting, and enhances transparency by authorizing poll watchers to observe more aspects of the election process. The bill also bans the distribution of unsolicited applications for mail-in ballots and gives voters with a defective mail-in ballot the opportunity to correct the defect.”
Democrats meantime, says the bill will make it harder for minorities under-served Texans to vote, and that the bill’s creation is in reaction to they call “the lie of a stolen election.” Senate Bill 1, among other things, does away with 24-hour drive through voting; a measure that was put in place in Houston to make it easier and safe for Texans to vote amid the COVID pandemic. It also gives partisan poll watchers more protections; a measure that Democrats says could put voters at risk.
The are numerous legal challenges to the bill.
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