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Young Texans rally for voting legislation at the Capitol

Members of the group Texas Rising rallied at the Capitol Thursday, calling on lawmakers to pass bills they said will increase access to voting.

AUSTIN, Texas — Dozens of young adults representing more than 20 Texas colleges and universities rallied outside the Capitol Thursday afternoon to call on lawmakers to pass bills aimed at increasing access to voting.  

The members of Texas Rising said lawmakers should ease "unnecessary voting restrictions" and pass laws making it easier for their generation to vote.

"Let's demand online voter registration because, after all, this is the 21st century," Clarissa Conde, a student at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, said. "Let's demand that we have a polling location on all of our campuses so we can all have a ballot within reach. And let's demand that our college IDs be accepted at the polls."

During the last election, students at Texas State University faced issues casting their ballots. There was only one area on campus for them to vote, and it was open for just three days. That led to long lines and hours-long waits to cast a ballot. 

RELATED: High voter turnout at Texas State leaves students in need of more time to vote

There are numerous bills filed in the House and Senate to achieve what the students are asking for, including:

  • House Bill 375 and its companion Senate Bill 841 to require polling locations at college campuses
  • House Bill 1799 and its companion Senate Bill 231 to make university-issued identification cards an acceptable form of ID needed to vote in Texas
  • House Bill 361 and its companion Senate Bill 734 to allow online voter registration

All of the bills have been assigned to committees, but none of them have been scheduled for hearings.

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