Senate Bill 7 is at the forefront of Texas Republicans’ crusade to further restrict voting in the state after last year’s election.
Alexa Ura
Alexa Ura reported for The Texas Tribune from 2013 to 2023. She covered the complex dynamics of race, ethnicity, wealth, poverty and power and how they are shaping the future of Texas and Texans, in the long and short term. Alexa started at the Tribune as a reporting intern before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin and joining the staff full time. Originally from Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border, she is a native Spanish speaker and is based in Austin.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will review Crystal Mason’s controversial illegal-voting conviction
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.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Restrictions on Texas voting could tighten under Republican bill advanced by Senate committee
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.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Alcohol to go from restaurants gets closer to becoming permanent as Texas House gives approval
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.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Republicans begin pursuing new voting restrictions as they work to protect their hold on power
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.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott formally opens Texas GOP bid to clamp down on local efforts expanding voting access
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.
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Winter Storm 2021
Nurtured with faith, a community garden in San Antonio springs back from the devastating winter storm
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.
Posted in
Demographics
Texas’ oldest Black university was built on a former plantation. Its students still fight a legacy of voter suppression.
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.
Posted in
Winter Storm 2021
Already hit hard by pandemic, Black and Hispanic communities suffer the blows of an unforgiving winter storm
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.
Posted in
Demographics
Latest census delay will push Texas’ redrawing of political maps into the fall
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.