March from Georgetown to Austin planned to push for federal voting rights legislation

A march from Georgetown to Austin will be held next week in an effort to push for federal voting rights legislation.

The march, organized by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, will start at 8 a.m. Wednesday and last through July 31, with a rally at the Texas Capitol. Participants will walk parts of the roughly 30- mile trek each morning, stopping in the early afternoon.

The event comes as Texas House Democrats are in Washington in an effort to block state-level election legislation criticized for disenfranchising voters. They broke quorum last week, bringing the chamber’s work during a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott to a halt.

The group is asking for the passage of the For the People’s Act, full restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and an end to the filibuster, in addition to a $15/hour minimum wage and protections for undocumented immigrants, according to an event page. Former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke will participate in the march, he said.

“Texas is clearly at the center of this fight,” O’Rourke said. “I want our national leaders to know that the people of Texas expect them to pass voting rights legislation. It is the only way to preserve democracy in Texas and ensure free and fair elections in 2022 and every election thereafter.”