Tarrant County won’t use Dickies Arena as a voting site. Here’s why.
Dallas County will use American Airlines Center as a voting site for the November election, but Tarrant County has opted to not use any of its stadiums as voting sites, including the 716,000-square-foot Dickies Arena, because it would create too large of a gathering.
Instead, voting sites in the county will be at community centers, elementary schools, universities, churches and county buildings. The commissioners approved early voting and 332 Election Day sites on Sept. 15.
The county’s concerns are exasperated by voter protection laws, which would make it illegal to enforce mask rules as grounds to enter the voting facility.
The early voting sites also include a contingency plan. The commissioners can vote to amend the voting schedule and add eight additional sites if the early voting turnout is too big. They would vote for this on Oct. 20.
The American Airlines Center became available to Dallas County after the NBA announced on Aug. 28 that it would lend franchise stadiums to local governments so safe voting could take place during the pandemic.
Heider Garcia, the Tarrant County elections administrator, said there were conversations about using Dickies Arena or the stadiums in Arlington but doing so would contradict the county’s message of no large gatherings and practicing social distancing.
“It just didn’t make sense to say ‘Well, now let’s open a big place that will draw a bigger crowd’,” Garcia said.
He also is wary of how well a big voting site like the one at the American Airlines Center would work. Garcia said if all goes well with the site in Dallas County, he would be open to making the Dickies Arena a site in future elections.
The focus for this election was having voting sites in neighborhoods around Tarrant County, he said.
Each voting site will also have masks, sanitizing stations and promote social distancing.
The county will spend about $4 million for the election, Garcia said. About $2.1 million was originally allocated by the county; the rest comes from the CARES Act.
The county has used the CARES Act money to buy more voting machines in an effort to avoid long lines, Garcia said.
The last day to register to to vote for the Nov. 3 general election is Oct. 5. Mail-in ballot applications must be received by Oct. 23. Early voting runs from Oct. 13 through Oct. 30. Tarrant County voters can learn more about registering to vote or requesting a mail-in ballot by visiting the Tarrant County Elections website or calling 817-831-8683.
