Texas Senator Ends 15-Hour Filibuster Over GOP Voting Bill
A Texas state senator ended a 15-hour filibuster Thursday in the Democrats' latest defiance over new voting restrictions, but it only delayed Republicans who went on to approve the sweeping elections bill just minutes after she wearily left the floor.
Carol Alvarado filibusters Senate Bill 1, a voting bill, at the Texas Capitol in Austin on Aug. 11.
Photographer: Eric Gay/AP PhotoAustin, Texas (AP) -- Texas Republicans enlisted the help of law enforcement for the first time Thursday to force the return of Democratic legislators who fled the state a month ago to block new voting restrictions.
The move, a significant escalation in the holdout, came a day after officers of the Texas House of Representatives served civil arrests warrants to the offices of more than 50 Democrats who have not retuned to the Capitol since fleeing for Washington, D.C., on July 12. Some have returned to Texas but remain absent from the state House of Representatives.