Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Election Integrity Bill

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed the election integrity bill, passed last week in a special session of the Texas State Legislature, into law on Tuesday.

Abbott travelled to the East Texas city of Tyler for the signing ceremony for Senate Bill 1, the “Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021” where he was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) and State Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction).

“The bill that I’m about to sign helps to achieve that goal [of election integrity]. One thing that it does is it ensures that every eligible voter will have the opportunity to vote. One way that it achieves that is it provides even more hours for people to be able to go cast their vote,” Abbott said. He continued:

Texas provides 12 days of early voting, and this law even adds more hours during those early voting days. By comparison, the president’s home state of Delaware provides zero days and zero hours of early voting.

No one is saying that what happens in Delaware denies people the right to vote. Similarly, in Texas, because of the 12 days of early voting and even more hours of early voting, as well as flexibility with regard to voting on election day, it ensures that Texas provides even more opportunities for people to engage in the voting process than the president’s home state of Delaware, as well as many other states across the entire country.

Abbott added, “The law does, however, make it harder for fraudulent votes to be cast.”

“One area that makes it harder to cheat concerns mail-in ballots,” the governor added. “This is an area where both Democrats and Republicans agree has been the easiest way to cheat in the election process. The law that I’m about to sign fixes that problem,” he noted.

Abbott also said the law also address the problem of ballot harvesting.

The new law “makes ballot harvesting a third degree felony,” Abbot stated, adding:

Ballot harvesting is a serious problem in the state of Texas. That comes from a federal district judge who was appointed to serve in Texas by President Barack Obama. That federal district judge heard a case, a trial, and during that trial there was an abundance of evidence presented, an abundance of law presented, and after all of the law and all of the evidence was presented, the judge appointed by Barack Obama wrote an opinion deciding that case, and in that opinion that judge wrote that ballot harvesting occurs in abundance in the state of Texas, showing the challenge that poses, and showing the reason Texas took up this cause, to make sure that ballot harvesting fraud will be eliminated in the state of Texas.

You can watch the video of the signing ceremony here.

Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action, praised Gov. Abbott’s signing of the election integrity bill.

“Today, Governor Abbott signed S.B. 1, a commonsense election integrity law that includes important measures like voter I.D. requirements for mail-in ballots, protections against ballot harvesting and voter intimidation, and safeguards for poll watchers. Heritage Action is proud to support the efforts of Gov. Abbott and the Texas lawmakers who worked to advance S.B. 1 and secure Texas’ election processes,” Anderson said in a statement released Tuesday.

“We are also proud of the thousands of grassroots activists who made their voices heard and testified in support of this bill since day one. Thank you, Governor Abbott, Senator Bryan Hughes, and Representative Andrew Murr for your work to finish this fight to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in the Lone Star State,” Anderson added.

Both houses of the Texas State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1 last week, as Breitbart News reported.

Democrat members of the Texas House of Representatives, nicknamed “Fleebaggers,” attempted to prevent the Texas State Legislature from voting on the election integrity bill, as Breitbart News reported July 12:

Maskless Democrat members of the Texas State Legislature smiled gleefully as they fled from Texas to Washington, DC, on Monday as part of their protest to halt the Texas GOP’s efforts to strengthen election safeguards in the Lone Star State.

Pictures show several smiling, maskless, Texas Democrats on a plane fleeing Texas in part of their move to protest the GOP’s efforts to strengthen election integrity in the state. Notably, Texas Democrats thwarted the effort at the end of the 2021 regular session by staging a walkout, leaving Republicans without a quorum to vote on the measure, Senate Bill 7, in May.

As a result, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) promised that election integrity would be added to the special session agenda. And indeed, Abbott’s office subsequently released an agenda for the special session, which included key election integrity items.

However, instead of tackling the legislative priorities, Texas Democrats opted to flee the state yet again, denying the GOP majority a quorum to pass any bills.

Those “Fleebagger” efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and Senate Bill 1 is now the law in Texas.