得克萨斯州奥斯汀——得克萨斯州因新的投票限制而陷入僵局的僵局持续了38天，直到周四，一些逃到华盛顿特区的民主党人放弃了他们的抵抗，为共和党人重新推动选举铺平了道路选举美国大修。
它突然而混乱地结束了现代德克萨斯州历史上为数不多的——也是最长的——法定人数突破。一些成员没有用民主党人的统一和庆祝性的回归，而是猛烈抨击他们的同事，批评他们打破常规。民主党人几个月来一直反对的对德克萨斯州投票的许多拟议修改仍在州参议院已经通过的一项法案中，共和党州长格雷格·艾伯特现在可以在几周内签署这项立法，如果不是更早的话。
周四只有三名新的民主党人出现，7月份逃往美国首都的50多名民主党人中的绝大多数继续远离德克萨斯州国会大厦。尽管如此，共和党众议院议长戴德·费伦说，足够达到法定人数，众议院通常有100名议员出席。共和党人越来越不耐烦，导致失踪议员可能面临逮捕的威胁不断升级，但官员们似乎除了在民主党人家里留下逮捕令之外，什么也没做。
“这是一个非常漫长的夏天。经历了很多。我感谢你们所有人来到这里，”费伦说。“是时候回到德克萨斯州人民的事务上来了。”
并非所有民主党人都加入了抵制的行列，最新回到得克萨斯州众议院的人为他们的决定辩护，称他们成功地推动了国会的投票权立法，同时指出得克萨斯州激增的新冠肺炎案件越来越紧迫。其中一名来自休斯顿的民主党人石榴石·科尔曼没有去华盛顿，因为他正在从感染导致的腿部截肢中恢复。
“生活中的一件事是，我们必须知道我们的责任是什么，我们必须努力把事情朝着我们希望的方向发展，”科尔曼在众议院发言时坐在轮椅上说。
但是其他缺席的民主党人并没有掩饰他们的沮丧。
该州众议员米歇尔·贝克利(Michelle Beckley)在推特上写道:“这就是德州民主党人输掉选举的原因。
阿博特现在有了一个机会，可以将注意力转移回国会大厦，远离得克萨斯州最大城市和学区对他处理日益恶化的新冠肺炎数字的批评和蔑视。阿博特将在2022年竞选连任，他也把最近一次为期30天的特别会议的日程安排得满满当当，包括边境安全和公立学校如何教授种族。
阿博特本周的新冠肺炎检测呈阳性，尽管他的办公室表示这位63岁的州长没有任何症状。
这让民主党人的处境与抵制开始时大致相同:无法永久阻止共和党控制的立法机构对超过1600万注册选民的投票数量设置新的限制和规则。得克萨斯州民主党人在华盛顿游说的联邦投票权保护仍面临绕过国会共和党反对意见的长期可能性。
几个月来，德克萨斯州的共和党人一直试图通过一些措施，禁止24小时投票站，禁止免下车投票，并给予党派投票观察者更多的机会。该法案的一个版本距离阿博特5月份的办公桌只有几个小时的时间，该版本还将禁止周日早上的提前投票——当时许多黑人教徒去投票站投票——并使法官更容易推翻选举。民主党人的第一次退出最终永久地破坏了这两项条款，但共和党人保留了其他有争议的措施。
在民主党人第一次退出后，雅培否决了大约2100名立法人员的工资，此举旨在向民主党人施压，要求他们返回，以恢复资金。
众议院全体议员周四迅速休会，但共和党人迅速安排了周六的选举法案听证会。
“人们想开始工作。众议院共和党党团主席、州众议员吉姆·墨菲(Jim Murphy)说:“他们感到欣慰的是，经过这么长时间，我们在奥斯汀被扣为人质，我们终于可以开始工作了。
几个月的抗议活动让德州民主党成为新一轮全国投票战的中心。美国各地的共和党人纷纷颁布新的投票限制措施，以回应前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)关于2020年大选被盗的虚假说法。
共和党人现在又回到了在9月5日本届特别会议结束前通过德克萨斯州新选举法的道路上。
Texas Democrats return, end 38-day holdout over voting bill
AUSTIN, Texas -- A standoff in Texas over new voting restrictions that gridlocked the state Capitol for 38 consecutive days ended Thursday when some Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., dropped their holdout, paving the way for Republicans to resume pushing anelections overhaul.
It abruptly and messily drew to a close one of the few — and lengthiest — quorum breaks in modern Texas history. Instead of a unified and celebratory return by Democrats, some members lashed out at their colleagues over what they criticized as breaking ranks. Many of the proposed changes to Texas voting that Democrats have railed against for months remain in a bill that already passed the state Senate, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott could now sign the legislation in a matter of weeks, if not sooner.
Only three new Democrats showed up Thursday, and the vast majority of the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for the nation’s capital in July continue to stay away from the Texas Capitol. Still, Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan said enough were there to achieve a quorum, which in the House is normally 100 present legislators. Growing impatience among Republicans had led to escalating threats that missing lawmakers could face arrest, but officers never appeared to do more than leave warrants at Democrats’ homes.
“It's been a very long summer. Been through a lot. I appreciate you all being here,” Phelan said. “It's time to get back to the business of the people of Texas.”
Not all Democrats joined in the holdout, and the newest to come back to the Texas House defended their decision, saying they had successfully pushed Congress on voting rights legislation while pointing to the growing urgency of surging COVID-19 caseloads in Texas. One of them, Democrat Garnet Coleman of Houston, did not go to Washington because he was recovering from having a leg amputation brought on by an infection.
“One of the things in life is that we have to know what our responsibilities are and we have to work to move something in the direction we want it to be," Coleman said from a wheelchair while delivering the prayer on the House floor.
But other Democrats who remained absent did not hide their frustration.
“This is how Texas Democrats lose elections,” state Rep. Michelle Beckley tweeted.
Abbott now has an opening to divert attention back to the Capitol and away from criticism and defiance by Texas’ largest cities and school districts over his handling of worsening COVID-19 numbers. Abbott, who is up for reelection in 2022, had also jammed the agenda of this latest 30-day special session — which is nearly half over — with other hot-button conservative issues including border security and how race is taught in public schools.
Abbott this week tested positive for COVID-19, although his office had said the 63-year-old governor did not have symptoms.
It leaves Democrats much in the same position as when the holdout started: unable to permanently stop the GOP-controlled Legislature from putting new limits and rules over how more that 16 million registered voters can cast a ballot. And federal voting rights protections that Texas Democrats lobbied for while in Washington still face long odds of getting around GOP opposition in Congress.
For months, Texas Republicans have tried to pass measures that would prohibit 24-hour polling sites, ban drive-through voting and give partisan poll watchers more access. One version of the bill that was just hours from reaching Abbott's desk in May also would have banned Sunday morning early voting — when many Black churchgoers go to the polls — and made it easier for a judge to overturn an election. Democrats' first walkout wound up permanently scuttled those two provisions, but Republicans have kept intact other contested measures.
Abbott vetoed paychecks for about 2,100 legislative staffers after Democrats walked out the first time in a move that was aimed at pressuring Democrats to return in order to restore that funding.
The full House quickly adjourned Thursday, but Republicans worked fast to schedule a hearing on the elections bill for Saturday.
“People want to get to work. They're relieved that after all this time that we've been held hostage in Austin that we can finally get down to business," said state Rep. Jim Murphy, chairman of the House Republican Caucus.
Months of protests had put Texas Democrats at the center of a new national battle over voting. Republicans around the U.S. have rushed to enact new voting restrictions in response to former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Republicans are now back on a path to pass new elections laws in Texas before the current special session ends on Sept. 5.
