Houston, Jul 14 (IANS): Texas Democrats have left for Washington D.C., in an effort to block a Republican attempt to pass voting restrictions in the state.
At least 51 of the 67 Democratic representatives left for the capital city on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Texas House is set to reconvene on Tuesday morning, but the absent Democrats would mean there will not be enough members present to conduct business under House rules, according to the Texas Tribune.
Media reports said the decision to hole up in Washington is aimed at ratcheting up pressure in the nation's capital on President Joe Biden and Congress to act on voting at the federal level.
The Republican-let bill further tightens the state's voting rules, with measures such as banning drive-thru voting, adding new voter ID requirements to absentee ballots and prohibiting local elections officials from proactively sending mail-in ballot applications to voters.
As the minority party in the state, Democrats walked out in the final hours of the regular legislative session in May, causing the House to lose its quorum and killing the voting legislation.
The latest attempt is their second one to block the bill on voting restrictions.