Tarrant County voters share their experiences, issues faced during primary election
Over 196,000 Tarrant County residents voted in the March 1 primaries, with nearly 103,000 early voters and around 93,000 election day voters.
In a survey conducted by the Star-Telegram regarding voting experiences in Tarrant County, readers shared issues they faced at the ballot box such as long lines, malfunctioning voting machines and the lack of accessibility resources.
Out of over 30 survey respondents, six said they didn’t vote at all because of an obstacle; five said they had difficulties with mail-in ballot applications and rejected voter registrations.
In January, Denton, Tarrant and Dallas counties reported around 40% of mail-in ballot applications had been rejected due to errors such as incorrectly filling out the form or using the wrong form. The rejection percentages were reported about a month before the deadline to submit a mail-in ballot application.
The Star-Telegram previously reported that elections administrator Heider Garcia told Tarrant County commissioners most rejected absentee ballots were not approved because of missing driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
Garcia later reported to the commissioners that the number of rejections because of missing information went down to 14%.
Accessibility at the polls was another issue. Visually impaired residents said they had difficulty getting their mail-in ballot application approved and faced issues with the audio not working on the voting machines, requiring assistance from poll workers.
Molly Broadway, with Disability Rights Texas, said the accessibility issues voters shared were not uncommon. She is the training and technical support specialist for voting rights with the statewide nonprofit organization.
Every polling location is required to be accessible, according to guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. For disabled voters who experienced an issue when voting, Broadway said there are several ways to make sure their voices are heard.
Informing poll staff of an issue or contacting their county elections office is one way. Another is by calling the Disability Rights Texas Voter Rights hotline at 1-888-796-8683 or by emailing vote@drtx.org. Broadway said part of her job is to take issues brought up by voters with disabilities and contact county elections offices to make sure those problems are fixed.
“Voters are not voiceless,” she said. “They have the right to voice their dissatisfaction, or to voice their negative experience, and these polling places must be accessible.”
Voters also have a right to contact the Texas Secretary of State’s office, which, Broadway said, Disability Rights Texas can assist voters with.
Four survey respondents mentioned long wait times and crowded rooms as an issue they faced, and three respondents said their polling locations were inaccessible. Six respondents said they couldn’t vote at one polling location because the Democratic voting machines were down.
Every polling site has to have at least one accessible voting machine that’s operational and turned on with poll staff who know how to operate the machine, Broadway said. Polling locations also have to be physically accessible and, if they’re not, must be fixed to be ADA compliant.
The Star-Telegram reached out to the Tarrant County elections administrator for comment but did not receive a response by time of publication.
