Democrats refuse to appear for session on voting laws

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Democrats again refused to return to the state Capitol on Saturday as Gov. Greg Abbott began a third attempt at passing new election laws, prolonging a monthslong standoff that ramped up in July when dozens of Democratic state lawmakers left the state and hunkered down in Washington, D.C.

“A quorum is not present,” said Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, who then adjourned the chamber until Monday.

More than 50 Democrats last month bolted to the nation’s capital, but the precise whereabouts of each of them is unclear. In a joint statement Saturday, Democrats said 26 of them would remain “part of an active presence in Washington maintained for as long as Congress is working.”

But there were also signs the stalemate may be thawing. Two of the Democrats who decamped last month returned to Austin Saturday, and one of them said enough of his colleagues may also begin trickling back to secure a quorum. And, notably, Republicans did not invoke a procedural move that would give Phelan the authority to sign arrest warrants for missing lawmakers, as they did when the Democrats left town.

Democratic state Rep. Eddie Lucio III said those who might return were feeling the pull of personal and professional demands.

Heading into the weekend, Democratic leaders had not committed to sitting out the entire 30day session, leaving open the possibility that enough could return at some point to end the standoff. Republicans want to advance an overhaul of elections in Texas under legislation that largely remains the same despite the months of walkouts and protests by Democratic lawmakers.

Texas would ban 24hour polling locations, drivethru voting and give partisan poll watchers more access under the bill that Republicans were on the brink of passing in May. But that effort was foiled by Democrats abruptly leaving the Capitol in a latenight walkout.

Democrats made a bigger gambit — by decamping to Washington on chartered jets — to run out the clock on the GOP’s second try. Democrats had hoped to exert pressure on President Biden and Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation, but a Senate Republican filibuster continues to block such a measure.