From The New York Times just now:
Democrats in the Texas Legislature staged a dramatic, late-night walkout on Sunday night, forcing the failure of a sweeping Republican overhaul of state election laws before a midnight deadline on Sunday. The move, which deprived the Legislature of the minimum number of lawmakers required for a vote, was a stunning setback for state Republicans who had made a new voting law one of their top priorities.The effort is not entirely dead, however. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, indicated that he would call a special session of the Legislature, which could start as early as June 1, or Tuesday, to restart the process. The governor has said that he strongly supported an election bill, and he was widely expected to sign whatever measure Republicans passed.
“Election Integrity & Bail Reform were emergency items for this legislative session,” Mr. Abbott said on Twitter on Sunday night. “They will be added to the special session agenda.” He did not specify when the session would start.
While Republicans would still be favored to pass a bill in a special session, the unexpected turn of events on Sunday presents a new hurdle in their push to enact a far-reaching election law that would install some of the most rigid voting restrictions in the country and cement the state as one of the hardest in which to cast a ballot.
After a lengthy debate in the state House of Representatives in which Democrats raised numerous objections, staged lengthy question-and-answer sessions and leveraged procedural maneuvers, Democrats left the chamber en masse, leaving the House roughly 14 members short of the required 100-member quorum to continue business. Without the requisite number of legislators, Dade Phelan, the speaker of the state House, adjourned the session around 11 p.m. local time, effectively killing the bill for this legislative session.
Republicans’ inability to pass the measure on Sunday night was the first major stumble for the party in its monthslong drive to restrict voting across the nation, and an embarrassment for G.O.P. leaders in the Texas Legislature who at least momentarily fell short of a top legislative goal for both the governor and the Republican Party. …