Page 11 - Sb 7 News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> reporter: just this year alone, 14 states have already enacted laws that make it tougher for people to vote, with more than 60 other pieces of legislation currently working their way through state legislatures. that's why lawmakers, as well as activists here in texas say it's so important for there to be federal. >> this is the toughest state in the country to vote and get registered to vote. on top of that, the legislature this last year proposed to make it harder, sb-7, the voter suppression bill would reserve the right to overturn future elections based simply on the allegation of fraud.

Stripped secretaries of state of sthr power, asserted more control over state election boards, made it easier to overturn election results and pursued several partisan audits and inspections of 2020 results. in texas, state democrats used a dramatic walk-out to block republicans' assault on voting rights, but republican governor greg abbott has followed through on a threat with what is essentially extortion of the legislative branch by withholding pay, including not just for legislators, but for legislative staffers, until the package of voting restrictions known as sb-7 is passed. this we kee...

The legislature, until they come back for a special session and pass republicans' package of voter suppression rules. that move came at the end of a busy week for abbott, which also included signing seven new gun bills into law, including one allowing for perm mit-less pistol carry and still fighting for donald trump's 2016 campaign promise and will indeed build a border wall using $250 million of state revenue. that's not actually close to enough funds, so abbott is literally crowd funding for donations to build a wall of former reality tv show host said that mexico would pay for six years ag...

Voter suppression package. >> the right to vote is a given. all citizens have the right to vote. what we are seeing are examples of an attempt to interfere with that right. we are not asking for the bestowal of a right, we are talking about the preservation of a right, the right of citizenship. frankly, this is not a democratic or a republican issue, this is an american issue. this is an american issue. >> as i mentioned before, texas democrats have only temporarily stopped sb-7. that's what it's called. they are specifically and urgently calling for action at the federal level to support voti...

Box for those who are less likely to vote for republicans? >> you hit the nail on the head. that's exactly what's happening in texas. so i mentioned a racial gerrymander of our state. what that means is that there's a good chance if you're black or brown in texas, you've moved out of a given congressional district, or the likelihood that you would vote at all. and so much of sb-7, the elections bill that was debated recently in texas is targeted at harris county. houston, texas, which zerlina is the most diverse city in the united states of america. and it is those voters that they're trying t...