In the Texas election last year, turnout was 6.6 percent higher than in 2016.  In my view, there were two reasons for this:

1. Voters not normally engaged in public policy were alarmed by the disaster that was Trump’s infestation of the White House.  Trump’s childish attacks on social media, continuous stream of outrageous lies, and soaring Covid cases and deaths finally broke through the fog of disinformation pouring out of right wing media and drove people to the polls.
2. Efforts by local officials to make it easier to vote, especially after Trump’s new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, intentionally sabotaged the Post Office and undermined voters’ confidence that their mail in ballots would be counted.

The turnout was bipartisan.  Even though Biden decisively won the national election, Republicans maintained their iron grip on Texas and made gains in the US House (I’m ignoring gerrymandering at this moment.)  Turnout us up across the country this last election, so the response from GOP controlled statehouses around the country was predictable – make sweeping changes to make it harder for Americans to votes.  Over 250 bills in 43 states are being rammed through state legislatures as I write this.

In fact, last night while we were all asleep, the Texas Senate voted to advance Senate Bill 7, that places additional sweeping restrictions on voting including reducing early voting days and hours, eliminating highly successful and popular drive-through voting, and making it illegal for local officials to send mail in ballot applications to those who don’t request them, even though they are qualified.  They are ramming this bill through as fast as possible, even though the majority of testimony in Senate hearings opposed these laws as unnecessary and just more voter suppression.  The House could vote on this bill by the Texas House and signed by Abbott as early as next week.  It’s passage is as certain as the sunrise tomorrow.

This anti-American undemocratic bill is being passed so the GOP, controlled by old pot-bellied rednecks can cling to power for another cycle.  Elections have consequences.  When the bad guys win, bad things happen.  Welcome to “democracy” in the 21st century.  Any more of this kind of “democracy” our status as a failed state will be cemented for decades.