Texas Republicans vote to arrest Democrats blocking redistricting plan
Texas Republicans have voted to track down and arrest dozens of Democratic legislators who have fled the state to block passage of a plan to re-draw electoral boundaries to favour Republicans.
After the vote, Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered state troopers "to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans".
Abbott has also threatened to charge the absent Democrats with bribery if they raised public money to cover the daily fine they incur for boycotting the chamber.
The redrawn Congressional map would create five more Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, where Republicans hold a slim majority.
At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body in Texas must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers left the state.
Most of the Democrats fled to Illinois where the state's Governor JB Pritzker said he was "going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them" amid arrest threats from Abbott.
