Texas GOP says it will adjust rule in election bill accused of impacting Black churchgoers

Texas GOP lawmakers say they will be making changes to their proposed restrictions to early voting  Sunday after critics argued the move disproportionately affected the Black community.

The measure, which voting advocates said would have harmed “souls to the polls” events popular with Black churches, is part of the latest statewide elections overhaul package that Democrats have characterized as being a thinly veiled attempt at voter suppression.

In an interview on NPR this week, Texas state Rep. Travis Clardy (R), said the starting time for voting to begin on Sunday in the proposed legislation had been a typo. Clardy said the starting time was meant to 11 a.m., but had mistakenly been written as 1 p.m.

“That’s one of the things I look forward to — with fixing the most. Call it a scrivener’s error, whatever you want to. I talked to our team yesterday, kind of regrouping of what happened. That was not intended to be reduced,” Clardy told NPR’s Steve Inskeep.

Citing reports from the Texas Tribune, Axios noted that despite this two-hour difference, no Republicans raised any issues with the apparent starting time as it was written during the final debate over the bill, and one lawmaker even defended the 1 p.m. starting time.

On Sunday, Texas Democrats staged a walkout in order to block the massive voting overhaul. The lawmakers slowly began to walk out until there were not enough members left to have a quorum and the Republican members of the House ran out of time to pass the bill.

President Biden has condemned the Texas package, one of several put forth by Republicans after the 2020 election, as “an assault on democracy” and “un-American.”

“Today, Texas legislators put forth a bill that joins Georgia and Florida in advancing a state law that attacks the sacred right to vote. It’s part of an assault on democracy that we’ve seen far too often this year — and often disproportionately targeting Black and Brown Americans,” he said. “It’s wrong and un-American. In the 21st century, we should be making it easier, not harder, for every eligible voter to vote.”