Texas governor signs Republican-backed voting restrictions

New law prevents officials from sending out unsolicited mail-in ballot applications and empowers partisan poll-watchers.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law voting restrictions that Republican backers say are intended to combat voter fraud but that critics contend are aimed at making it harder for Democratic-leaning minorities to cast ballots. On Tuesday, Texas joined more than a dozen states that have passed Republican-backed voting changes since the 2020 election. The new laws have been driven in part by former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Opponents of the changes in Texas have already begun filing lawsuits in federal court. “Our clients will not waste a minute in fighting against this,” said Ryan Cox, a senior staff lawyer at the Texas Civil Rights Project.