Voting Rights

As Texas defends against accusations that its new political maps are discriminatory, it’s laying the groundwork to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out longstanding Voting Rights Act protections.

Disability rights advocates say the state has not provided enough guidance about the type of help people with disabilities can and cannot receive under new voting laws passed last year.

A nearly two-year long analysis — and outreach efforts — from the Texas Civil Rights Project shows most public library systems in the state now comply with the laws to register Texans to vote.

The Texas League of Women Voters says this shortage is disproportionately affecting the thousands of newly naturalized citizens they usually register each year.

All over the state, county officials report they’re rejecting hundreds of applications for mail-in ballots, an issue several attribute to recent election law changes championed by state Republicans.

Democrats’ options for passing a voting rights bill dwindle as tensions escalate in the Senate.

Independent voting rights advocates will likely try to spread the word.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is urging the Senate to approve voting rights legislation to override new restrictions imposed by Texas and other Republican-led states.

The secretary of state’s office says it is following the legal settlement agreement it entered in 2019 after botching its first review effort. But scores of citizens are still being marked for citizenship verification — and possible removal from the rolls.

Elected leaders at the county, city and school board level have largely avoided the scrutiny targeted at Republicans in the state legislature earlier this year when they drew state and federal lines to overwhelmingly favor white Texans. But the stakes are high in the fight over local district boundaries as well.

Player organizations in the NBA, NHL, NFL, WNBA and MLB were sent an open letter by the organization's national and state presidents.

The U.S. Senate could consider the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as soon as this week. Last week, Senate Republicans blocked the Freedom To Vote Act, a different election-related bill.