/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/ura-alexa_TT.jpg)
Alexa Ura is an associate editor and reporter at The Texas Tribune. As the Tribune’s demographics reporter, she covers the intersection between politics and race with an emphasis on the state’s surging Hispanic population. She also covers voting rights issues for the Tribune, where she started as a reporting fellow in 2013. She’s a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
In a 78-64 vote, the House on Friday passed a pared down version of priority GOP legislation to place new restrictions on voting. Now the bill likely will be reshaped in conference committee with the Senate, largely out of public view. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e61d9f12e6e556942931d0ea169278af/House%20Floor%20Cain%20JV%20TT%2028.jpg)
Dozens of big companies, local businesses and chambers of commerce issued a statement reflecting the biggest pushback yet by the business community against Texas Republican efforts to further tighten the state's restrictive voting rules. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e8d2ca579c1bda167d57d718d4212f7a/ATX%20Early%20Voting%20Day%20Two%20MG%20TT%2018.jpg)
The House elections committee gutted the Senate’s priority voting bill and replaced it with language from the House’s preferred legislation, signaling a divide over which new restrictions will make it to the governor’s desk. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/197cafd81363bcd1631a28dd11dcff65/Hays%20County%20Early%20Voting%20JV%20TT%2023.jpg)
Texas will have 38 congressional seats as a result of the latest U.S. census. It's one of six states to gain seats, and it's the only state that will get more than one. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/706854caadc13fa71d22671eed527ee6/US%20Capitol%20DC%20REUTERS%20TT.jpg)
Senate Bill 7 would create new restrictions on early voting, how voters can receive applications to vote by mail and the distribution of polling places in diverse, urban counties. Here's our breakdown of the proposed changes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/68684f3898f9b6cd9f794638f96284e8/ATX%20Early%20Voting%20Day%20Two%20MG%20TT%2007.jpg)
An outraged Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick castigated those implying that GOP efforts to restrict Texas voting are racist. But the state has a history of marginalizing voters of color, and many business leaders, voting rights advocates and Democrats see it taking another step down that path. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1ac682888daf6067ad5c445a68e5dab9/Harris%20County%20Early%20Voting%20AM%20TT%2007.jpg)
Like other Republican proposals, the measure would target Harris County’s initiatives from the 2020 general election, including a shift to proactively send out vote-by-mail applications. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/fbf34fd0d43834115384e0656bffbb14/Hays%20County%20Early%20Voting%20JV%20TT%2021.jpg)
American Airlines and Dell Technologies on Thursday publicly declared their opposition to Republican legislative proposals that would impose new restrictions on voting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/35ba9fb89b159ce2e2762d2d448ce33f/DFW%20Airport%20IS%20TT.jpg)
Senate Bill 7 is at the forefront of Texas Republicans’ crusade to further restrict voting in the state after last year’s election. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c039b24e5460a3d679c8afc2e4281aaf/Election%20Day%20HTX%20MS%20TT%2022.jpg)
The Tarrant County woman faces a five-year prison sentence for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election while on supervised release for a federal conviction. Her vote was never counted. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/642ab6ae80513ba91aa94803dd0e15ca/05%20Crystal%20Mason%20LBS%20TT.jpg)
Senate Bill 7 would make sweeping changes to Texas voting by limiting extended early voting hours, prohibiting drive-thru voting and requiring Texans to provide proof of disability to qualify for mail-in voting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1213306294e6b34ae0f8750f09eb6cb8/Houston%20Drive%20Thru%20Voting%20AM%20TT%2001.jpg)
The chamber signed off on House Bill 1024 to permanently allow beer, wine and mixed drinks to be included in pickup and delivery food orders. The measure still requires approval from the Senate. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3cc845b7f95dd3e88a843034375ef7cf/The%20Barn%20Door%20SATX%20CL%20TT%2020.jpg)
Democrats moved to delay committee hearings that were set for today on the first major bill in a push by Republican lawmakers to further tighten the state's already restrictive voting rules and raise new barriers for some voters. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/064bd8d5ee0727e0e0d4f3f081c2cf05/Election%20Day%20Dallas%20ST%20TT%2003.jpg)
Texas has some of the strictest voting rules, but Republican lawmakers are now hoping to outlaw efforts by local officials in places like Harris County intended to widen access for voters, including drive-thru voting and extended early voting hours. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6c1f9175337bd096cb092b53baf476c5/Houston%20Drive%20Thru%20Voting%20AM%20TT%2002.jpg)
The St. Phocas Garden in San Antonio’s historic West Side supplies a local food pantry with the only fresh vegetables many of its clients get, but it suffered major freeze damage during the winter storm. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b42742647e6c05d03a9b3dd684f2e752/SATX%20Community%20Garden%20MG%20TT%2014.jpg)
Jayla Allen was her family’s third generation to attend Prairie View A&M University. She inherited a battle for voting rights in Waller County extending before her grandfather’s time at the Southeast Texas college. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9a91ebbcf8ec76e56a14ab1cc65f4599/PVAMU%20Jayla%20Allen%20BT%20TT%2014.jpg)
Texans of color, disproportionately devastated by death and unemployment during the last year, tend to live in neighborhoods with older homes, more vulnerable pipes and fewer food options. That's made it harder to withstand the cold temperatures and power outages. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc36c7cba81be2be28416751dd8cb50a/Almendarez%20No%20Power%20BT%20TT%2008.jpg)
The Census Bureau now says it will get detailed results of the national population count to states by Sept. 30. That means Gov. Greg Abbott will almost certainly need to call lawmakers back for overtime in the fall to craft new Congressional and legislative districts. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/34d32b3991e220c20a4d8eb4fac115dc/Census%202020%20REUTERS%20TT%2003.jpg)
State Rep. Briscoe Cain was named chair of the House Elections Committee months after traveling to Pennsylvania to help the Trump campaign challenge the results of the 2020 election. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5d731bde2a8a1a6e3492722b8f818117/Briscoe%20cain%20House%20floor%20JF%20TT.jpg)
The Census Bureau revealed Wednesday that the detailed results lawmakers need to reconfigure congressional and state legislative districts won’t be available until at least two months after the end of the regular 2021 legislative session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b6760d8071a360b88d9e1e4c3f259253/Census%202020%20REUTERS%20TT%2002.jpg)