Overview

• Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday added a prohibition on same-day voter registration to the special session agenda, along with measures on contracting by sheriffs and constables and rules for transfers of law-enforcement funds.
• Texas already requires voters to register 30 days before an election, making the proposed same-day registration ban a preemptive restriction rather than a change to current practice.
• Following Abbott’s announcement, Rep. Briscoe Cain filed a bill to block a Sept. 1 change that would have let voters cast ballots based on same-day in-county address updates, preserving a 30-day wait for such changes to take effect.
• The added items come during an ongoing standoff over Republican redistricting plans that have drawn national attention and prompted Democrats to leave the state to deny quorum.
• Nearly half of U.S. states and Washington, D.C., allow same-day registration, a policy Republicans in Texas have criticized over stated concerns about potential voter fraud.