AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following the passage of Senate Bill 1, the Election Integrity Bill, by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola:

“After 24 hours straight on the Senate floor, including a 15 hour filibuster, I am very proud that the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 1 today. This is the fourth time we have passed this bill out of the Senate.
“SB 1 is about ensuring that every Texan trusts the outcome of every election in Texas. It increases transparency and ensures the voting rules are the same in every county across the state. It will require that signatures on mail-in ballots are verified so we know that ballots cast by mail belong to the people they say they belong to.

“Texas has more early voting hours than many states, and SB 1 expands early voting hours. SB 1 also prohibits any election machine or counting machine from being connected to the internet, making hacking impossible and it will allow Texans to watch votes being counted on election night as larger counties will be required to livestream the vote tabulation process.

“I salute Sen. Hughes and the Republicans who worked diligently to pass this bill for the fourth time. Final passage of SB 1 into law will require the House Democrats who have fled the state to return to the House for a quorum. If they do not, this bill will die, but the Senate will pass SB 1 over and over again until the House finally has a quorum.”