Bill filing deadline: Republicans file election legislation that Democrats call voter suppression With Friday marking the bill filing deadline, lawmakers filed a flurry of election and voter bills. Democrats say it’s just the latest attempt at voter suppression. The 87th Texas Legislature is called into session at the Texas Capitol building in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. (Lynda M. González/The Dallas Morning News)(Lynda M. González / Staff Photographer) AUSTIN – Friday marked the bill filing deadline in the 87th Texas Legislature, and with it came several pieces of last-minute election reform legislation from Republicans that Democrats contend are nothing more than a package of voting restrictions aimed at voter suppression.