Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the nation’s most restrictive voting law on Tuesday, ending a saga that began in July when state House Democrats fled Texas in an attempt to stop the measure.
The law — due to the Democratic desertion — drew massive amounts of national attention. And it is a major step backward for voting rights, as it makes it far more difficult to cast a mail-in ballot and strengthens the potentially partisan role for poll watchers. But the Texas law isn’t an exception. It is the rule when it comes to Republican-controlled state legislatures and bills they have pushed into law so far this year. As The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer noted in a recent piece: « This year alone,12 states have passed income tax reductions,17 states have increased voting restrictions that are expected to hit Democratic constituencies more critically, and 18 states have enacted new or expanded school choice programs, according to the tallies kept by interest groups.
