Texas governor orders new try at passing GOP voting laws

By PAUL J. WEBER and ACACIA CORONADO
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered another special legislative session to again try to pass a Republican-backed voting bill. The announcement Thursday came after Democrats left the state in protest to again prevent Republicans from changing the state’s elections laws. More than 50 Democrats left Texas for Washington on July 12 and were on the cusp of running out the clock on the current special session and torpedoing the sweeping voting package for a second time since May. But like their first effort in May, there remains no clear path for Democrats to permanently block the voting measures or other contentious GOP-backed proposals that are up for debate.