Austin, Texas – High-profile Texas Democrats Beto O'Rourke and Julián Castro joined demonstrators at the Texas Capitol on Saturday to protest the restrictive voting bill making its way through the state legislature.

Protesters gathered outside the Capitol on Saturday one day after the House approved an amended bill that faces strong opposition from voting rights activists, the Houston Chronicle reported.

They were joined by former Congressman Beto O'Rourke and former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, who argued the repressive measures are meant to disenfranchise the state's Black and Latinx communities.

"We are here today to say, 'No, we will not stand for that,'" Castro said to a crowd of cheering Texans.

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Among other expanded options offered in 2020, the bill would bar drive-thru and late-night voting, which were shown to be very popular among Black and Latinx Americans. These options were also widely used in Harris County, which saw increased voter turnout and a definite swing toward Biden.

In fact, the current president garnered the greatest blue percentage in the Houston county since Texas Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson ran in 1964.

Biden's success in Harris County put him within 6 percentage points of beating Trump in Texas – the closest any Democrat has come to winning the state since 1996.

No wonder Republicans are trying to retain control by clamping down on voter access, with particularly those measures that boosted turnout in Texas' largest county being targeted.

In protesting the Texas legislature's interference in voter access, Beto pointed out recent high-profile mistakes made by the Republican-controlled government: "These jokers can’t even keep the lights on, or the heat on, or the water running when the temperature drops in Texas, now they want to take over our elections," the El Paso native said at the rally, referring to the winter storm that left millions of Texans across the state without water or electricity.

The appearance came as O'Rourke contemplates a possible 2022 gubernatorial run. Texas has not elected a Democratic governor since Ann Richards in 1990.

The bill will likely proceed to a special committee, where lawmakers from both chambers will draft a final version behind closed doors. If both the House and Senate approve the same bill, it will be sent to Republican Governor Greg Abbott's desk for signature.