The 87th Texas Legislative session ended May 31 after Texas Democrats staged a walkout that dissolved the quorum needed for a vote, killing Senate Bill 7, known as the Election Integrity Protection Act.

If passed, the bill would have set uniform early voting hours, empower partisan poll watchers, impose criminal penalties on vot­ing officials who break the rules, ban 24-hour and drive-through voting, penalize election officials who send mail-in ballot applica­tions to individuals who do not request them and require personal information from individuals as­sisting voters in preparing a mail-in ballot.

While Texas Republicans ar­gued that the bill is needed to se­cure elections, the state’s Demo­cratic Party said the bill targets people of color and criticized it as voter suppression.

In response to the walkout, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to veto Article 10 of the state budget, which funds lawmakers’ and their staff’s pay.

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By Dustin Butler • [email protected]