Tarrant County rejects early voting sites after debate over polls on college campuses
Debate over whether college campuses should host polling locations on Wednesday derailed the Tarrant County election administrator’s proposal for early voting sites for the general election.
After sometimes heated discussion, the Tarrant County commissioners voted along party lines to reject the list of 50 sites. Early voting begins Oct. 21 for the Nov. 5 election.
The motion to approve the list failed on a 2-2 vote, since it did not receive a majority. Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez was not present for the vote.
Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig presented the list to the commissioners, stating that the county needs “as many [early voting sites] as we can get” in order to ensure that voters get to the ballot box in a timely manner.
When pressed by County Judge Tim O’Hare on how many early voting sites he recommended the county needs, Ludwig said “probably 60 to 70.”
O’Hare called the number of polling locations a “waste of money and manpower,” and called out the eight sites on college campuses for being difficult to access by the general public.
“Furthermore, these college locations primarily serve a small segment of the population,” O’Hare said. “Our polling places should be selected to be broadly accessible to our citizens, even presuming that these locations serve the purpose of catering to a small segment of the population.”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Brooks called the rejection of the sites “an act of voter suppression” and countered O’Hare by saying “all sites are targeted to get specific people to vote. That’s why they’re in specific neighborhoods.”
The sites on college campuses favor one group, O’Hare said, adding that the court’s role is not to get college students to vote.
“It’s not trying to favor one group over another,” Brooks responded. “It is trying to make it easier for people to vote, and that is the job of this commissioners court, to make it easier for everyone to vote.”
Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French addressed the commissioners, urging them to reject the sites on grounds that college campuses are difficult for non-students to access.
He said a pay lot was the closest parking location to the proposed site at UT Arlington.
“It is unacceptable to force our citizens to pay for access to polling places,” he said. “I believe these locations must be removed to ensure a free and fair election with equal access for all voters.”
Ludwig had previously ensured commissioners that all early voting locations had free parking for voters.
Fort Worth resident Jenny Blount said she had signed up to speak about parking issues, but that Ludwig had cleared up her doubts on the issue.
It was unclear what will happen with early voting in Tarrant County after the list was rejected. Ludwig left Wednesday’s session without answering questions.
The issue of polling locations at college campuses in Tarrant County also drew debate ahead of the 2020 election. The initial proposal for voting locations did not include college campuses, but the county ultimately included them on the final approved polling location list.
O’Hare also voted against the list of 350 election day voting sites on grounds that the proposed list was not balanced between majority Democrat and majority Republican precincts.
Tarrant County does not need 350 polling locations on election day, but that number meets the county’s requirements by law, Ludwig said.
The list was approved 3-1, with Ramirez absent.
The commissioners also voted unanimously to increase pay raises for election workers. Election judges’ hourly rate was raised from $15 to $18, and that of election clerks went from $13 to $15.
This story was originally published September 4, 2024 at 12:51 PM.
