Nearly two dozen Texas House Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., last month to stymie GOP-backed election reforms sued top Republicans in the state whom they say violated their rights in measures taken to bring them home to vote.
The lawsuit, filed by 22 Democratic lawmakers in federal court in Austin, Texas, late Friday, coincided with the final day of the first special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott and preceded a second special legislative session set to begin on Saturday. Abbott, House Speaker Dade Phelan, and State Rep. James White were named as defendants in the suit.
TEXAS LAWMAKER WHO FLED TO DC WON’T REVEAL IF SHE’S ON VACATION
Texas Democrats contested the first session that began on July 8 over the “election integrity” item on the agenda. Dozens in the Democratic minority flew to Washington in a bid to stall the legislative agenda by preventing the chamber from reaching quorum, prompting the governor to threaten arraignment when they return from the extended protest.
Abbott ordered a second 30-day special legislative session Thursday in a new attempt to pass the GOP-backed voting legislation after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state.
The lawsuit alleges the three defendants sought “by public statements and otherwise, to attempt to deny, coerce, threaten, intimidate, and prevent” the Democratic lawmakers and their constituents their right to “vote in all elections,” “peacefully assemble to redress their grievances,” “speak publicly about the exercise of their constitutional rights,” “of association,” “security of person,” and “freedom from arrest, except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.”
The suit, which claims the defendants were conspiring together, also says the plaintiffs “individually complaint about retaliatory attacks, threats and attempts at coercion relating to the exercise of their First Amendment rights.”
The Democrats seek $5 in actual damages and $10 in punitive damages. Abbott and Phelan did not immediately comment on the suit; White said he did not know why he was included in it as a defendant, according to the Texas Tribune.
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Voting reforms sought by Republicans have become a hot-topic issue following the 2020 election, when states across the countries implemented measures changes, such as expanding early and mail-in voting, to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
GOP critics have raised concerns about election security, while Democrats who oppose changes to the voting process backed by Republicans warn they could disenfranchise voters, particularly minorities.
