Texas Republicans have voted to track down and arrest dozens of Democratic legislators who have fled the state to block passage of a partisan redistricting plan.
The vote passed by 85 to 6, following Republican Governor Greg Abbott’sWhat is happening in Te threat of bribery charges against the absent Democrats.
After the vote, the governor ordered state troopers “to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans”.
The proposed congressional map, unveiled last week by Republicans, would create five more Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, where President Donald Trump’s party currently holds a slim majority.
At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body in Texas must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers left the state.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows told reporters after Monday’s vote in the chamber that he had “signed the civil arrest warrants” for the Democrats.
Most of the Democrats fled to Illinois where the state’s Governor JB Pritzker said he was “going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them” amid arrest threats from Abbott.
The Democrats said they planned to stay away from Texas for two weeks until the end of a special legislative session.
