AUSTIN, Texas — Republican lawmakers around the country are pressing ahead with efforts to tighten voting laws, despite growing warnings from business leaders that the measures could harm democracy and the economic climate.expressing opposition to “any changes” that would make it harder to vote in that state. The letter — signed by American Airlines, Microsoft Corp., HP Inc., Patagonia, Levi Strauss & Co.
Texas is emerging as the next major battleground in the fight over voting laws. The Texas House could vote, as soon as this week, on a bill thathome of Houston and a Democratic hub, after officials there dramatically expanded voting options in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Texas Senate has advanced its own package, with the two chambers likely headed to a compromise committee that would fashion a final version.
The Texas businesses, calling themselves Fair Elections Texas, used notably careful language in their statement, declaring that elections should be “convenient, transparent and secure,” a nod to Republicans' insistence that their agenda is about preventing fraud and shoring up voter confidence in election results.
After the bill was signed, Georgia-based Delta Air Lines and The Coca-Cola Co. criticized the bill, angering Republicans. Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who faces reelection in 2022, has loudly blasted corporate America for yielding to “cancel culture."