A top Democratic Party official ramped up fears over a controversial voting bill at the center of a political standoff in Texas.
Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday to rally opposition to the proposed GOP proposal as Gov. Greg Abbott threatens reprisals against those who blocked its passage by the Republican-majority Legislature over the weekend.
“We’ve been down this road before,” the DNC chairman stated, drawing direct parallels with Jim Crow laws. “Our democracy really is in balance.”
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The Texas bill is the latest in a string of Republican attempts to reform election laws across the country following allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 election. Included in the bill are provisions banning mobile voting booths, drive-thru voting, and ballot harvesting while placing restrictions on mail-in voting and voting times. It also includes measures bestowing greater power on poll watchers.
Republicans argue these measures will help streamline the electoral process and secure it against voter fraud.
Democrats criticize the legislation as an attempt to disenfranchise minority and Democratic voters. Stacey Abrams, a failed gubernatorial candidate and election reform activist from Georgia, referred to the voting reform bills as “Jim Crow 2.0.”
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After the state Senate passed the bill, Texas House Democrats staged a dramatic walkout, stalling the bill with the end of the legislative session. In response, Abbot threatened to withdraw their paychecks, effectively defunding the House to force a vote.
President Joe Biden deemed the Texas bill “wrong and un-American,” and Harrison appeared to take that sentiment to the extreme, claiming the legislation is the “most blatant attempt to really curb black and brown voting that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
