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May 12, 2019      9:12 PM

Updated: Voting rights fight could roil end of Texas legislative session

A committee sub is being circulated tonight and is slated for a hearing Wednesday; Sen. Hughes says a paper backup for electronic voting is key, others in the GOP say “we should make it easy to vote, hard to cheat.”

Editor’s note: Chair Klick says the bill will be heard Wednesday morning in her committee. For clarification, an earlier report suggested the bill might be heard on Monday but that is incorrect. A copy of the committee sub can be downloaded at the end of this story – SB

Just as Texas retreats from a voting rights fight in federal court in San Antonio over the way embattled Secretary of State David Whitley handled the rollout of a botched voter purge, Senate Bill 9 by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R- Mineola, has the potential to inflame the situation if it gains any traction in the House during the closing weeks of the session.

The bill would increase the criminal penalty of forging a ballot from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony, something that voting rights groups say would have a negative impact on turnout.

By Andrew Turner

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