Texas Republicans Push Through Voting Restrictions in Democratic Areas

The Texas Legislature has passed a new round of voting bills that increase penalties for illegal voting and expand state oversight of local elections, specifically in Harris County, which includes Houston, where Democrats have become dominant. The bills include one that would upend elections in Houston a few months before the city’s mayoral race in November by forcing the county to change how it runs elections and return to a previous system. Harris County, the state’s most populous county, has become a reliable Democratic stronghold, and the passage of the bills marked the culmination of a monthslong effort by Texas Republicans to contest some of that dominance.