AUSTIN (Texas) A Texas senator continues her filibuster of an election bill Thursday morning in the latest tactic to prolong the nation's most visible standoff over voter rights.Carol Alvarado, Democrat, began her filibuster just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday. She spoke indefinitely, but it was unlikely that she would stop it from moving. During the filibuster which reached its 12th hour on Thursday morning, she must continue to stand and speak.Alvarado was seen on the Senate floor wearing running shoes, much like Wendy Davis, a former legislator who is well-known for her long filibuster of anti-abortion legislation in 2013.Alvarado's filibuster started hours after Texas House of Representatives officers had issued civil arrest warrants to more than 50 Democrats who were absent on Wednesday. Frustrated Republicans are intensifying their efforts to end the standoff over a broad elections bill that has been in place for 32 days.After making their rounds inside the Texas Capitol, sergeants at-arms dropped off copies of the warrants in the offices of Democrats and politely asked staff to inform their bosses that they would return, there was little sign the stalemate that started in July when Democrats fled to Washington, D.C. to stop the statehouse from grinding to a halt was getting closer to resolution.The Texas Legislature was thrown into unfamiliar territory by the latest escalation. Neither side can be certain about what will happen next or how far Republicans would go to achieve a quorum (100 lawmakers), a threshold that they were only four short of reaching.State Rep. Erin Zwiener said that she doesn't worry about what I can't control. Erin Zwiener was one of the Democrats served with a warrant. She refused to return to Capitol. These warrants don't surprise me and do not affect my plans.Democrats who acknowledged that they could not stop the GOP voting bill passing due to Republicans' dominance at both Texas Legislature chambers, responded with new displays of defiance. One of the warrants was granted in Houston by a judge to prevent him from returning to the Capitol.Continue the storyThe NAACP also intervened on behalf of Texas Democrats and urged the Justice Department investigate whether there was a federal crime being committed after Republicans threatened to arrest them.Refusing to attend legislative sessions constitutes a violation of House Rules a civil offense and not a crime. This leaves the power that warrants have to bring Democrats back to the chamber undefined, even for Republicans who invoke it. Democrats will not be imprisoned. Republican Travis Clardy, a Republican, helped to negotiate an early version the voting bill that Democrats had stopped with a walkout last May. He told ABC News that he believes they can physically be brought back to Capitol.Jim Murphy, Texas House Republican Caucus leader, stated that while he hasn't seen this situation play out in his tenure, he believes officers could reach the missing legislators and ask them to return.Murphy stated that they are hoping they will arrive because warrants have been issued for their arrest and they don't want to be detained. It's amazing to me that people have to be arrested to do the job for which they fought, and for which they took an Oath of Office to uphold Texas Constitution.The Texas Department of Public Safety is the state's law enforcement agency.This is a new effort of the GOP to end the protest against elections legislation. It began a month ago when 50 Democrats flew private planes to Washington in an act of determination to make Texas the front line of a national struggle over voting rights.Republicans are currently in the middle of their third attempt to pass tweaks to the state election code since May. These changes would make it more difficult and sometimes even more risky to cast a Texas ballot. Texas already has some of most restrictive election laws in America.Texas is one of many states where Republicans have rushed new voting restrictions to respond to the false claims by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 election had been stolen. This bill is very similar to one that Democrats blocked by visiting the capital. It would prohibit 24-hour polling places, drive-thru vote, and allow partisan poll watchers greater access.Wednesday's status of the remaining Democrats in Washington was not clear. They had hoped to press President Joe Biden, and other Democrats there, to pass federal legislation to protect voting rights in Texas. Even though the Senate Democrats promised to make it their first order of business upon their return in the fall, they don't have a strategy to overcome the steadfast Republican opposition.___Acacia Coronado works as a corps member for Report for America Statehouse News Initiative/Associated Press. Report for America, a non-profit national service program, places journalists in local newsrooms so they can report on undercovered topics.
