Planning to vote early in July 14 election? Tarrant County voters have until Friday.
More voters already have cast early ballots for the July 14 primary runoff and in Fort Worth’s election to renew a half-cent sales tax for police than did during all of the early voting period for the 2016 presidential primary runoff.
And early voting continues through Friday.
Through Sunday, more than 34,000 Tarrant voters — 18,583 in person and 15,660 by mail — voted. That’s up from the 24,117 who voted early by mail and in person for the May 24, 2016, runoff, local election records show.
“The voting experience is so short, most walk in and out in five minutes,” said Heider Garcia, Tarrant’s election administrator. “It isn’t difficult.”
This year’s runoff election comes in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, when election officials are taking extra precautions to keep voters safe.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott extended early voting for one week, giving voters a total of two weeks to vote early, with the goal of reducing lines and crowds at polling sites.
Garcia urges voters to be prepared when they go vote by reviewing sample ballots online at tarrantcounty.com/elections.
“Come in prepared, know what you are voting on,” he said.
He said this Wednesday likely will be the day this week with the fewest voters heading to the polls, so that might be a good time for anyone concerned about crowds to vote. Turnout usually picks up on the last two days of early voting — Thursday and Friday.
Anyone heading to polls in Tarrant County is being asked to wear a mask, but officials note that no one is required to do that. If you show up without a mask, and want one, each polling site should have a limited number of masks to share with voters.
Safety precautions
Election officials ask that you use hand sanitizer before handing your ID to the poll worker. If the poll worker can’t recognize a voter wearing a mask, they may ask that person to pull it down or remove it long enough to confirm their identity.
Styluses will be sanitized, and election workers will try to space out machines as much as possible, but the distance between machines may be limited by the size of the polling sites.
Poll workers have been asked to wipe down all the machines to sanitize them at least once an hour.
And if voters review sample ballots on the Tarrant County website before heading to the polls, they should be able to get in and out quicker than if they didn’t.
Garcia said his office has fielded a few calls from voters asking why machines weren’t spaced out 6 feet apart for social distancing. He said the machines are spaced out as much as they can be at every polling site, but some sites are small which means machines are closer together than they are at larger polling sites.
Need to know
If you voted in either primary, you are eligible to vote in that party’s runoff. Registered voters who didn’t vote in the primary can vote in either party’s runoff. You also can request a ballot just for the city of Fort Worth’s election without voting in either primary.
Make sure you bring a photo ID to the polls. The seven state-approved photo IDs: Texas driver’s license, Texas election identification certificate, Texas personal identification card, Texas license to carry a handgun, U.S. military ID card with photo, U.S. citizenship certificate with photo, and U.S. passport.
Voters who don’t have one of those forms of ID, and can’t reasonably obtain one of them, may fill out a Reasonable Impediment form and show a different form of ID, which will still let them cast a ballot.
To vote in Texas, a person must be a U.S. citizen, at least 17 years and 10 months old (and 18 by Election Day), mentally sound and not a convicted felon unless the sentence has been completed, including parole or probation
For information about voting, call the Tarrant County Elections Center at 817-831-8683 or visit VoteTexas.gov.
On the ballot
Here’s what is on the ballot in Tarrant County:
▪ Democrats will choose between Mary “MJ” Hegar and Royce West for U.S. Senate; Kim Olson and Candace Valenzuela for U.S. Rep. District 24; Roberto R. “Beto” Alonzo and Chrysta Castañeda for railroad commissioner; and John Wright and Pedro “Pete” Munoz for County Constable Precinct 5.
▪ Republicans will choose between Elizabeth Beach and Brian Walker for the 2nd Court of Appeals District Place 7 and Jonathan Grummer and John Brieger for Precinct Chair 3990.
▪ Fort Worth residents will vote whether to continue a half-cent sales tax for the Crime Control and Prevention District for 10 years.
WHERE TO VOTE
Early voting runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday.
Locations
▪ Tarrant County Elections Center, 2700 Premier St., Fort Worth.
▪Arlington Subcourthouse, 700 E. Abram St.
▪Asia Times Square, 2615 W. Pioneer Parkway, Grand Prairie
▪Bedford Public Library, 2424 Forest Ridge Drive
▪Benbrook Community Center, 228 San Angelo Ave.
▪B.J. Clark Annex, Room 4, 603 Southeast Parkway, Azle
▪Bob Duncan Center, 2800 S. Center St., Arlington
▪Center for Community Service Junior League of Arlington, 4002 W. Pioneer Parkway, Arlington
▪City of Arlington South Service Center, 1100 SW Green Oaks Blvd., Arlington
▪Colleyville City Hall, 100 Main St.
▪Crowley Recreation Center, 405 S. Oak St.
▪Dan Echols Center, 6801 Glenview Dr., North Richland Hills
▪Diamond Hill-Jarvis Library, 1300 NE 35th St., Fort Worth
▪Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school administration building, 6-Training Room, 1200 N. Old Decatur Road, Saginaw
▪Euless Family Life Senior Center, 300 W. Midway Dr.
▪Elzie Odom Athletic Center, 1601 NE Green Oaks Blvd., Arlington
▪Forest Hill Civic and Convention Center, 6901 Wichita St., Forest Hill
▪The REC of Grapevine, 1175 Municipal Way
▪Griffin-Poly Subcourthouse, 3212 Miller Ave., Fort Worth
▪Handley-Meadowbrook Community Center, 6201 Beaty St.
▪Hurst Recreation Center, 700 Mary Dr.
▪James Avenue Service Center, 5001 James Ave.
▪JPS Health Center Viola M. Pitts/Como, Lower Level, Suite 100, 4701 Bryant Irvin Road N.
▪Keller Town Hall, 1100 Bear Creek Parkway
▪Kennedale Community Center, 316 W. Third St.
▪Mansfield Subcourthouse, 1100 E. Broad St.
▪Northeast Courthouse, 645 Grapevine Highway, Hurst
▪Northside Community Center, 1100 NW 18th St.
▪Sheriff’s Office North Patrol Division, 6651 Lake Worth Blvd., Lake Worth
▪Southlake Town Hall, 1400 Main St.
▪Southside Community Center, 959 E. Rosedale St., Fort Worth
▪Southwest Community Center, 6300 Welch Ave.
▪Southwest Subcourthouse, 6551 Granbury Road, Fort Worth
▪Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Naylor Student Center, 1900 W. Boyce Ave.
▪Tarrant County College Northwest Campus, WFSC 1403A, 4801 Marine Creek Parkway, Fort Worth
▪TCC Northeast Campus, Student Center NSTU — The Galley, 828 W. Harwood Road, Hurst
▪TCC South Campus, Student Center SSTU 1112, 5301 Campus Drive, Fort Worth
▪TCC Trinity River Campus, 300 Trinity Campus Circle
▪ Tarrant County College Southeast Campus, EMB-C Portable Building, 2100 Southeast Parkway, Arlington
▪ Tarrant County Plaza Building, 201 Burnett St.
▪ Texas Wesleyan University, Baker Building, 3021 E. Rosedale St.
▪ UNT Health Science Center, IREB 1st floor lobby, 3430 Camp Bowie Boulevard
▪ UTA, Maverick Activities Center, 500 W. Nedderman Drive, Arlington
▪ Villages of Woodland Springs Amenity Center, 12209 Timberland Blvd., Fort Worth
▪ White Settlement Public Library, 8215 White Settlement Road
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
