Truthout
Texas
![Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, speaks during a panel discussion during the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 27, 2021 in Orlando, Florida.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/06/2021_0607-ken-paxton-at-cpac-400x300.jpg)
Texas AG Says He Helped Trump Win State With His Lawsuit Against Mail-In Ballots
Ken Paxton had blocked Harris County from sending out 2.4 million mail-in ballot applications ahead of the election.
![Lake Highlands High School valedictorian Paxton Smith decries Texas' assault on reproductive rights in Dallas, Texas, on May 30, 2021.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/06/firefox_BIzgEeeSCx-400x300.png)
High School Valedictorian Blasts Texas’s Anti-Choice Law in Graduation Speech
Paxton Smith didn't use the speech approved by her school. Instead, she decried Texas's assault on reproductive rights.
![Trump supporters rally in Tampa, Florida, at a Make America Great Again rally on July 31, 2018. Trump has recently been telling people he will be reinstated as president in August 2021.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/06/2021_0601-MAGA-400x300.jpg)
Republicans Are Vocally Opposed to Democracy, From Texas to Myanmar
State-level Republicans are laboring to effect their own slow-rolling coup in the upcoming elections.
![Julian Castro speaks during the "Texans Rally For Our Voting Rights" event at the Texas Capitol Building on May 8, 2021 in Austin, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/05/2021_0531-Texans-voting-rights-400x300.jpg)
Texas Democrats Walk Off House Floor to Block Voter Suppression Bill
The last-ditch move came hours after Texas Republicans rammed the bill through the state Senate in the dead of night.
![Governor of Texas Greg Abbott looks on prior to Game One of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays on October 20, 2020, in Arlington, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1281353468-400x300.jpg)
Texas Advances Voter Suppression Law That Makes It Easier to Overturn Elections
Voting rights advocates say Texas already has more barriers to voting than most other states.
![The State Capitol Building in downtown Austin, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-96651527-400x300.jpg)
GOP-Led Legislatures May Pass Voter Suppression Laws With Help of Trump Judges
Many of these bills will have a disproportionate impact on voters of color and are being challenged in state courts.
![With an hour left to vote, people wait in line at Manor ISD Administration building on November 3, 2020, in Manor, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/2021_0524-texas-polling-400x300.jpg)
New Texas Bill Reduces Polling Locations in Blue and Nonwhite Districts
The bill would increase polling places in many Republican-represented districts while cutting them in Democratic areas.
![Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds up the signed "heartbeat ban" on abortion at a signing ceremony on May 19, 2021.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2021/05/2021_0520-greg-abbott-abortion-400x300.jpg)
Texas Gov Signs Ban Allowing Private Citizens to Sue Abortion Providers for $10K
The bill bans abortion at a very early stage where many would not even realize that they are pregnant.
![National Rifle Association (NRA) President Wayne LaPierre speaks during the NRA Leadership Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 28, 2017.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/2021_0512-wayne-lapierre-nra-400x300.jpg)
NRA’s Lawsuit-Dodging Strategy Backfires as TX Judge Dismisses Bankruptcy Claims
The NRA used its bankruptcy filings to address “a regulatory enforcement problem, not a financial one,” the judge said.
![Voters approach the door at a polling location on October 13, 2020, in Austin, Texas.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2018/05/2021_0507-texas-voters-400x300.jpg)
Texas Democrats Fought GOP Voter Suppression Bill Through the Night
Democrats were able to remove language from the bill that was plucked straight from Jim Crow, but the fight isn't over.