Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s voter mobilization group and the Poor People’s Campaign will start a four-day march on Wednesday to condemn proposed state voting legislation and call for federal voting protections.
The march starts in Georgetown, includes stops in Round Rock and Austin, and ends at the Texas Capitol on Saturday, where the groups will hold a rally on the south steps.
O’Rourke, a former U.S. Senate and presidential candidate, will join Rev. William Barber, Dr. Frederick Haynes and other civil rights activists on the march.
O’Rourke’s group Powered by the People has been playing a big role in supporting the current Democratic quorum break in the Texas legislation. More than 50 Texas House Democrats fled the state earlier this month to deny their Republican colleagues the ability to pass legislation, primarily a sweeping bill that would enact new voting restrictions.
Voting groups and Texas Democrats have also been pushing for members of Congress to pass federal legislation, including the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Those bills would prevent states like Texas from passing laws that make it harder to vote.
