Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to use 224 Election Day polling places in November, 92 fewer than the 316 sites open for the 2022 midterm, CBS Texas and the Fort Worth Report reported.
The plan also sets 47 early-voting locations, down from 50 in 2022. Election Day is Nov. 3. Tarrant County has about 1.3 million registered voters and uses countywide voting, meaning a voter can cast a ballot at any open vote center, not only a neighborhood precinct.
The vote followed a meeting that stretched more than eight hours, the Fort Worth Report said, with more than 100 speakers. Most who testified opposed the cuts. CBS Texas said public comment ran more than two hours and that deputies escorted one person out for using profanity. Voting-rights groups rallied outside the courthouse before the vote.
Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig proposed the list. “I’m confident that what is proposed is going to give everybody that wants to vote the opportunity to vote,” Ludwig said, according to the Fort Worth Report. County Judge Tim O’Hare said the plan exceeds the legal minimum and that some 2022 sites were dropped because buildings are no longer usable or do not meet ADA rules, CBS Texas reported. Supporters, including some poll workers, said midterm turnout is typically lower and that fewer sites save money.
The first proposal in August would have cut Election Day sites to 176. Commissioners delayed that plan after public backlash. Tuesday’s list added sites back but still left 92 fewer than 2022.
The vote split along party lines. Republicans O’Hare and Commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez voted yes. Democrats Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles Jr. voted no. Simmons called the reduction “an assault on people’s voting rights,” CBS Texas reported, and failed twice on 3-2 votes to keep University of Texas at Arlington and Tarrant County College campuses on the list. Opponents said the cuts could make voting harder in communities of color and remove college and community-center sites.
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