BREAKING: Texas Senate passes voting integrity bill

In a 18-4 vote, senate Republicans passed a bill on Tuesday that will implement voting integrity laws in the state of Texas, upholding the integrity of US elections. A house version of the bill has yet to pass the House.

Senator Bryan Hughes (R), author of Senate Bill 1, argued that the Bill provides "common-sense reforms."

The newly passed voting integrity bill includes banning drive-thru voting, and requires video surveillance and tracking devices to be installed on all electronic devices used to count ballots to follow "input and activity," Fox News reports.

Citizens will be able to certify their identity on mail-in ballots by simply putting their driver's license number or last four digits of their social security numbers on their ballots.

Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) threatened to arrest the Democratic lawmakers who fled to Washington, DC, attempting to halt the House vote until Congressional lawmakers pass a federal voting reform bill.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden lambasted voting integrity laws in a rant. "The 21st century Jim Crow assault is real. It's unrelenting. We're going to challenge it vigorously," he said. "While this broad assault against voting rights is not unprecedented, it's taking on a new and literally pernicious form. It's no longer just about who gets to vote, or making it easier for people to vote, or making it easier for eligible voters to vote, it's about who gets to count the vote. Who gets to count whether or not your vote counted at all."

Governor Abbott, speaking to Laura Ingraham, said that "the thesis [Democrats] are operating under is completely false because what the Texas law does, doesn't hinder anybody's ability to vote. In fact, interestingly, what Texas is seeking to do is to add additional hours to vote." Abbott said early voting hours would be expanded under the new law.

"Compare early voting in Texas," Abbott said, "with early voting that we have in Delaware. Texas has 12 days of early voting, Delaware has zero days of early voting," he said, comparing Texas to President Biden's home state, "where the president himself voted in the last election."