Tarrant County removes 92 polling sites ahead of November election
Category: News & Politics
Via: hallux • 2 months ago • 31 commentsBy: Cecilia Lenzen Fort Worth Report
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve a list of polling sites for the November elections that included 92 fewer sites than the 2022 midterms.
The approval came after commissioners heard testimony from more than 100 speakers, the majority of whom were opposed to the site cuts, during a meeting that lasted over eight hours. Voting rights advocates and representatives of 30 civic groups rallied outside the county courthouse Tuesday morning, demanding that commissioners approve a list with the same number of sites as the 2022 midterms.
The adopted list includes 224 sites for Election Day and 47 for early voting. The 2022 list included 316 Election Day sites and 50 for early voting.
“I’m confident that what is proposed is going to give everybody that wants to vote the opportunity to vote,” said county elections administrator Clint Ludwig, who proposed the reduction.
“It’s not about cost. This is about power. This is very political. This is campaigning from the dais,” said Simmons, who is running against O’Hare for the county judge seat.
Ramirez, who is seeking reelection in November, said he asked Ludwig to present a list that included all of the sites used in 2022. Ludwig said several of the sites were unavailable, unwilling or unable under statutory requirements to be used this year.
Miles and Simmons suggested several revisions to increase the number of sites, but their Republican colleagues rejected each of them.
Krause described requests for 316 sites as “arbitrary,” questioning why his Democratic colleagues would be satisfied with that total instead of a higher one, such as 400 or even 700. Miles said he wants as many sites as possible.
At the morning news conference and throughout the meeting, speakers urged commissioners to increase, rather than decrease the number of places for voters to cast a ballot. They also asked to reinstate specific sites that Ludwig suggested eliminating, such as the Maverick Activity Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.
“We understand the power of the vote. We are deciding whether to preserve our democracy or continue to crumble it,” said Brianna Brown, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project, a grassroots group aimed at organizing Black and brown communities in Texas.
More than 1.3 million people are registered to vote in Tarrant County. Local Republican and Democratic leaders framed the November midterms as the “most important of our lifetime.”
Historically a Republican stronghold, Tarrant County has shown occasional signs of trending purple as voters narrowly supported Democratic candidates at the top of the statewide ballot in recent elections. Democratic Sen. Taylor Rehmet’s landslide victory in the northern half of Tarrant County in a special election in January, followed by unusually high voter turnout in the March primaries, spurred Democrats’ hopes of victory in November.
Thirty miles east, Dallas County commissioners also considered a list of polling sites Tuesday. Their proposal includes 85 early voting sites and 448 Election Day sites.
Ludwig told commissioners last week his proposed map of sites concentrates locations “where voters choose to vote” based on past election cycles and where facilities meet operational standards and disability accessibility requirements.
Commissioners voted on the list after 5 p.m. Immediately after the vote, attendees still in the room began chanting “shame.”
Several speakers, including Cynnamon Hall, argued that commissioners should increase rather than decrease voting sites on one of the same premises the court’s Republicans used to justify county redistricting last summer: population growth. Hall also criticized the loss of polling sites in Black and brown neighborhoods across the county, such as the 76104 zip code, which would have no sites under the current proposal.
“If you accept this, you’re basically saying that our votes don’t matter,” Hall said. “All votes matter. Vote ‘no’ on this.
Joan Gonzalez told commissioners she supports the proposal in the name of cutting costs for taxpayers, dismissing concerns about the reduction impacting voters’ ability to cast a ballot.
“My personal feeling is if you can find this commissioners court, you can find a polling place,” Gonzalez said. “You have early voting also for weeks at a time.”
Emeri Callaway, vice president of the Tarrant County Young Democrats, urged commissioners to restore the sites Ludwig proposed cutting, especially the MAC at UTA. They spoke of college students across the county calling the organization “panicking” about where to vote.
“This should not be a controversial issue to add these locations. It should not be partisan,” Callaway said. “Do not make it hard for students of Tarrant County to vote on their campuses.”
During the meeting, Simmons repeatedly attempted to get UTA added back to the list. Republicans argued that students had easy access to the nearby county subcourthouse in Arlington.
Commissioners were scheduled to finalize voting sites in early August, but agreed unanimously to table the decision until September after agreeing that Ludwig’s first proposal included too few sites. That list included 42 early voting sites and 176 on Election Day.
The Aug. 4 commissioners court meeting drew dozens of speakers, the majority of whom testified against a reduction in polling sites and demanded an increase in sites to accommodate population growth since the 2022 midterms.
During the nearly seven-hour meeting, O’Hare made all attendees leave the courtroom after some speakers continued talking after their allotted time to address the courtroom ran out and others shouted or used profanity. One speaker was arrested and carried out by his ankles and wrists. Another who left voluntarily was arrested a week later.
At the start of the Sept. 1 meeting, O’Hare advised attendees to follow the commissioners court rules of decorum they agree to follow when they sign up to speak during public comment. Those who violate the rules, which he read aloud, could be removed by sheriff deputies and possibly arrested, he warned.
“The last thing I want to see is anybody removed from the chambers. The last thing I want to see is anybody arrested. The last thing I want to see is a circus,” O’Hare said. “Last month, we had a circus.”
As of 5:30 p.m., O’Hare ordered sheriff deputies to remove three attendees from the meeting. One of them used profanity during his allotted time to speak, and the others spoke from the audience after O’Hare repeatedly ordered them to be quiet.
Robbie Hoy, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, told the Report no arrests were made during the meeting. One speaker was given a criminal trespass warning after speaking from the audience and directing a profane word at O’Hare as he left.
The county judge endorsed Ludwig’s new proposal last week shortly after it was released.
“As I’ve said from day one, no Tarrant County voter should ever feel they don’t have enough time to vote,” O’Hare said in a news release. “This is a sensible plan designed to ensure that, and I’m grateful to our elections staff for the work that brought us here.”
From the dais, Miles showed attendees the framed poll tax receipt of his wife’s great-grandmother, who he described as a housewife and mother of 10 who “understood how important her vote was, and the voice and the power it came along with.” He compared the site reduction to poll taxes, a Jim Crow-era fee voters were required to pay in order to cast a ballot.
“Just know that you are creating poll taxes, modern day poll taxes, for people to go and vote and do what they have the right to do,” Miles said, addressing Republican colleagues. “You may not see it, and I can’t help you see, but it is what it is.”
Simmons hosted a news conference Sunday with State Rep. James Talarico of Austin, the Democratic nominee for U.S. senator. Both warned that cutting polling sites could reduce access for voters.
Last month, Fort Worth City Council members unanimously approved a resolution opposing a proposed reduction in polling sites. They urged county officials to consider alternatives and ensure that voting sites are evenly distributed across the four commissioner precincts.
Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting is Oct. 19-30. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5.
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One gets the feeling the 2026 midterms are being purposely designed to fail.
welcome to maga texas ...
And yet if you ask a republican they will tell you that they have overwhelming support. Doesn't quite explain why they need to cheat then.....
FWIW:
In a recent poll , Talarico was leading Paxton in the Texas Senate race, with 47 percent of respondents saying they would back the Democrat if the election occurred that day, while 40 percent went for the Republican.
Trump loves Paxton due to the fact that they are both rapist racist fascist assholes.
they have a lot more crimes in common ...
Simply frightening in its implications.
The groundwork has already been laid, and in the open. The chance of actual rebellion against another attempted coup is very real. This could be the darkest moment of time in our history…and that it is self-inflicted makes it even sadder to see.
But I sincerely believe there are enough people who have the will to defend our most sacred of birthrights that it will not stand.
A handful of Uber-rich REPUBLICANS EGOISTS have concluded that our Constitution is outdated, and they want a CEO format controlled by them.
And, of course, control of the United States money!
Isn't that "LOVERLY"!
Do you know who the two leaders of this Christian Nationalist are?
I look forward to defending the US Constitution as a legitimate and legal excuse to make sure maga gets what they so richly deserve ...
This is how democracy dies.
Obviously the Republicans are scared shitless that there is going to be a Democrat tsunami in November. What they're trying every possible way to prevent it is starting to make me think that the Chinese government is becoming more the government of the people than the present American government is.
This looks like outrage over nothing.
Who is it that uses early voting and mail in the most and who is it that comes out on election day?
The early polling stations just dropped by three so all those that do the early vote shouldn't have a problem. Same day polling dropped to 224 from 316 so those who vote on election day are hindered the most and if you answered the above question correctly it is the republicans hindered the most in a mostly red county.
The reasoning behind the reduction was because of the statistics from 2022 showing there were stations in which the workers were twiddling their thumbs.
Okay. It seems to me that the biggest problem is those who don't bother to vote. I think Australia has the right idea.
Why the fuck is that your decision to make? Maybe they're not okay with it but you just non-challantly disenfranchised possibly thousands of American voters. Why? Is there a problem with early voting? Republicans haven't even shown any widespread voter fraud anywhere so why do you believe early voting is a risk?
More bullshit. Do you even believe that shit? Really? That this is just 'nothing to see here' normal every day American elections? Really?
Yes you did Donald, yes you did.
I would wait to see what my request to the elections board in Tarrant County finds. You might be right, and no voters will be encumbered.
I keep rereading what I posted and I still can't find where I said that.
It wasn't my decision since I live in Michigan, you would need to take that up with Tarrant County elections. To me it just looks like they needed to cut back a bit due to under used polling stations.
Do you know that Tarrant County, TX is approx. 900 square miles, that's 30 miles to a side, so at 224 they're about 2 miles apart in any direction. Also an entire zip code doesn't have a single one, the horror's, but that zip code is just over 2 miles square, so there is one on each of it's four sides, seems they have plenty of coverage.
Where I am there is only one in 36 square miles and I have to drive 8 miles to get there. Granted we are rural with very low population.
When Tarrant goes blue in spite of this nonsense the backlash will be from Republicans who went to their city hall and found it closed on election day.
Mine is no longer on the list so instead of walking we just have to go 15 minutes by car to the next library for early voting.
Yes, it is a deliberate attempt to piss off Dems.
my mom was an election worker in south texas for 30+ years. I convinced her to quit in 2022 when she was 88.
Old age is the most common denominator among Texas election workers.
$8 to $12 an hour could mean the difference between bologna or cat food for dinner, sad to say.
I moved her to colorado in 2023 to live with my sister, after I got tired of threatening to kill a few scumbag texans that she let take advantage of her, in her many attempts to prove to me that she was still able to live independent at 89 years old.
she had worked many years at $6 per hour for some woman whose millionaire former husband had paid her off and unloaded her for a trophy wife. my mom kept her employers hectic life as a shopaholic, mother of entitled substance abusing adult children, and curse of local restaurants, organized by opening her mail and balancing her checkbook.
the single plank in the maga platform for america ...
I hate these people
Peter Thiel and J.D. ("No Pants") Vance are vigorously rushing to create a NATIONAL CHRISTIAN IDEOLOGY that does away with our CONSTITUTION and puts these two A-holes in Government Control.
Isn't that "LOVERLY"?
So Frckn obvious what Trump and the GOP are attempting to do, to try and slow down that Blue Tidal Wave that they know is coming unless they can suppress Dem voting any damn way they can. Postal BS going on when a judge had ordered it halted, the joke 'Save America' clown show, election fraud , illegals swaying elections without any proof, rigged elections, yet somehow the the GOP won and was in charge, WTF people, open your eyes and wake up already
Voter suppression is the only reason to do this. If you are still voting republican? GFY.
it's pretty much an act of treason now ...
One thing that should be noted is that Tarrant County, Texas does not assign polling places, so the voters can vote wherever is convenient for them. Personally, If faced with the potential for long lines on election day, I would vote early.
early voting is the next to go ...
then it'll be voting by invitation only ...
I have submitted a request for polling place information to the Tarrant county Board of elections:
This should allow us to determine if the initial allocation of polling places was skewed one way or the other and it should also allow us to see if the predicted voter turnout will have ample time to vote.
Update: I received a response that said that the documents requested were attached... there were no documents attached. They are supposed to have some type of automated system that makes the FOIA requests easier.... Right now I am asking "Easier For Whom?"