Waits up to 4 hours, COVID shuts down site as early voting starts in Fort Worth area
The first day of early voting in Dallas-Fort Worth drew huge crowds and several problems were reported — including waits of up to four hours for some voters, and the temporary closure of a Euless polling site after an election worker contracted COVID-19.
Election officials said, despite the challenges, they are confident they can handle what is likely to be a record-shattering voter turnout in the three weeks remaining before Nov. 3 election. Early voting continues through Oct. 30.
“We hate to inconvenience even a single voter, but we’re moving as fast as we can,” Tarrant County elections administrator Heider Garcia said Tuesday afternoon.
By the time polls closed on Tuesday, 41,878 people had voted across Tarrant County — a rate of roughly 4,653 voters per hour, or 78 ballots cast per minute. The counting continued during the evening, as those who were in line when the polls closed at 5 p.m. were being allowed to vote.
The day began with a stumble at a voting center in Euless, where a worker had reported to election officials the night before that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
As a result, that employee and about 20 others who trained together last week had to be quarantined, creating manpower shortages at three voting centers. The opening of one of those polling sites, the Euless Family Life Senior Center, was delayed several hours.
“Out of an abundance of caution, all workers that were in the same training class were asked to stay home and not show up for work today,” Garcia said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.
The other two voting centers affected — Keller Town Hall and Villages of Woodland Springs — opened on time Tuesday, as election officials scrambled to move workers from one site to another.
Voters at the Villages of Woodland Springs site reported waits as long as two hours, and some voters said many of the machines weren’t being used, and that the delays appeared to be happening at the check-in table.
For voters who encounter long lines at their preferred voting center, election officials say it’s important to remember that Tarrant County residents can vote at any of the 50 early voting sites — regardless of where in the county they live.
Voters may visit elections.tarrantcounty.com for information on all 50 places in Tarrant County where early voting is taking place.
Also, before heading to the polls residents can check Tarrant County’s new interactive map which shows voters how long they can expect to wait in line.
However, that interactive map — a new feature this election season — appeared to have some bugs that needed to be worked out. For most of Tuesday, only 16 voting centers were reporting live wait times, and the other 34 centers were displaying a message that read “no data available today.”
Garcia said he would contact election judges after polls closed Tuesday to determine what can be done to get wait times for all 50 voting centers displayed on the interactive map.
4-hour wait to vote in east Fort Worth
Sylvia Allen was determined to vote Tuesday, arriving at the voting center in the Charles Griffin Building in east Fort Worth at 9:30 a.m. She was able to cast her vote around 1:30 p.m., but the wait didn’t bother her.
The vote is crucial, Allen said, adding “our lives depend on this, our children’s lives depend on this.”
“I was so determined — I think I woke up around 4 something this morning,” she said with excitement. “I would have camped out here all night. This the most important thing I can do.”
Others in the crowd behind her said they arrived around 10:15 a.m. and had expected a line, though not one as long as the one they stood in for nearly four hours.
Garcia said he was concerned about the long waits at the Griffin Building. He said it’s a relatively small voting facility that may have simply been overwhelmed by extremely high voter turnout in that neighborhood. He emphasized that voters can avoid long lines at any given location by visiting one of the other 49 voting centers in the county.
Barbara Dixon arrived at the polling place around 7:30 a.m. with cases of water and chips to pass out to voters. She said she was shocked to see the small space offered to the predominantly Black voting crowd. Even when allowing only four voters in at a time, the small room did not provide an adequate social distancing space.
“This is not COVID safe,” Dixon said.
Far north Fort Worth
Ora Butler, a retiree, was first in line at the voting center at Pack Up and Play, 5350 Basswood Blvd. in far north Fort Worth. She arrived at 5:30 a.m. and waited until the polls opened at 8 a.m.
“I just wanted to make sure I got it done,” she said. Butler added that, although it took 23 minutes for her to emerge from the voting center once the doors opened, the process wasn’t complicated.
The wait at the Basswood site was 30-44 minutes for much of Tuesday morning, according to the Tarrant County map.
Raymond Ogando, a truck salesman, said he wanted to cast a ballot on the first day of early voting because he doesn’t like the way the country has become fragmented during President Donald Trump’s term.
“I want to do what’s right for the nation. I feel change is necessary,” Ogando said as he waited in line for about half an hour with about 250 others.
Another person in line at the Basswood voting center, Robert Mayers, said he and a few dozen other people had inadvertently waited in line at the Summerglen Library. The Tarrant County Commissioner’s Court last week made an 11th-hour change, moving the voting center from the library to the Pack Up and Play business.
Pack Up and Play was formerly known as the Longhorn Activity Center operated by the Boy Scouts. Before that, it was a YMCA recreational center.
“We were there from 6 am. until nearly 8 a.m., and now we’re in line here,” Mayers said about 8:30 a.m., as he waited outside Pack Up and Play.
The library location was changed because Pack Up and Play can accommodate more voters, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said.
Long lines in Arlington, Woodland Springs
In Arlington, voters were standing in line for more than 60 minutes to cast ballots at the Elzie Odom Athletic Center, 1601 Green Oaks Blvd.
In far north Fort Worth, waits of more than 60 minutes also were reported all day at the Villages of Woodland Springs, 12209 Timberland Blvd.
Renee Robinson, a retiree who lives in far north Fort Worth, said it took her two hours to vote. She was in a line of voters that wrapped around the Villages of Woodland Springs Amenities Center, all the way to the adjacent soccer pitch.
“There’s a great group of individuals here,” Robinson said as she left the voting center. “I am proud that residents of all ethnicities, and young people, came to vote.”
Where are the shorter lines?
Much shorter waits were available at several voting centers elsewhere in Tarrant County.
Waits of 0-29 minutes were reported at Northside Community Center, 1100 NW 18th St., in Fort Worth; Tarrant County Arlington SubCourthouse, 700 E. Abram St.; and Southwest Community Center, 6300 Welch Ave. in Fort Worth.
Southwest Fort Worth
Voters in line at the Southwest Sub-Courthouse off Granbury Road said they had been waiting about 90 minutes.
Leah Ochoa and Darryl Sanders arrived at the courthouse at about the same time. Both said the long line was not surprising.
“I was hoping for a long line,” said Ochoa, who said she wanted to see high voter turnout.
Machines at the courthouse were briefly down, but appeared to be running again before 12:30, according to folks in line.
Matt Martin said he wasn’t sure what to expect. When he pulled into the parking lot and saw the line wrapping around to the opposite side of the building, he said he almost left. He decided voting early was worth the wait.
“It was good to see people from both sides of aisle show up to vote in-person,” Martin.
The line was not moving any quicker for those voting from their car.
Delphine Brown said she had been waiting in the car queue for about two hours. Each time a person votes, the machine is wheeled back inside and cleaned, adding to the time, she said, but she wasn’t upset.
“It’s not bad considering all the have to do and how many people there are,” she said.
Shorter lines elsewhere
On Twitter, voters reported significantly shorter lines at other polling stations.
The line at Fort Worth’s Southwest Regional library on Hulen lasted about 45 minutes according to one Twitter user.
Another voter tweeted just after 12:30 p.m. that the line at the UNT Health Science Center was under 30 minutes.
Staff writer Brian Lopez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 10:08 AM.
