Democratic candidates threaten lawsuit against Tarrant County over voter access on campus
Three Fort Worth area Democratic candidates might pursue legal action against Tarrant County if commissioners do not place early voting locations at UT Arlington and TCC’s Northeast campus.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare has scheduled a special meeting for Thursday to consider lists of early voting sites that include fewer college campuses than the list that failed to pass on Sept. 4. The 2-2 vote on the list of 50 proposed early voting sites was along party lines — with Commissioner Manny Ramirez not present.
The court’s Democratic members contended O’Hare scheduled the meeting for Thursday knowing that they would be out of town. The Commissioners Court on Aug. 6 approved their travel to Washington for an event by Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
At the time of the Sept. 4 vote, O’Hare said the number of polling locations was a “waste of money and manpower” and singled out the eight proposed sites for being hard for the general public to access.
If, at a minimum, polling places aren’t opened at UTA and Tarrant County College’s Northeast campus for early voting, a political group and three Democratic candidates plan to request a temporary restraining order and file a motion for a temporary and permanent injunction, in hopes for a court order requiring sites to be opened, said Brody Mulligan, a campaign official for the candidates.
The candidates are Sam Eppler (Congressional Disrict 24), Scott White (Texas House District 98) and Laura Leeman (County Commissioner, Precinct 3). They would be joined by the Tarrant County Young Democrats.
A Tarrant County spokesperson declined to comment on the possible lawsuit. A request for comment emailed to O’Hare’s office was not immediately returned.
Not having the sites would disproportionately harm Democratic candidates as well as young people and people of color, said Mulligan.
“Particularly given that we anticipate it to be a high turnout election, we want to alleviate any possibility of long lines or inability to access a polling location with which voters have become familiar, and what we have determined is that it would be detrimental to voters across the board, of all parties,” Mulligan said.
One of three proposed plans before the court Thursday includes voting locations at both UT Arlington and and TCC Northeast.
Tarrant County College’s Northeast campus falls within the districts where the candidates are running, but UT Arlington does not. Voters may cast ballots at any early voting location.
The initial list offered by the election office in its Sept. 4 meeting had early voting sites at UT Arlington, TCU, the UNT Health Science Center, the Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary and four Tarrant County College campuses.
Each of the new proposals include sites at TCU and the UNT Health Science Center, but not at the Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. Two of the options before commissioners include sites at UT Arlington, and each list reduces the number of Tarrant County College sites to two. Only one of the options includes the college’s Northeast campus.
Hunter Griffin, president of the Tarrant County Young Democrats, said many of the group’s members attend UT Arlington or Tarrant County College and that UT-Arlington is a popular voting location.
“The county commissioner court’s role is to make it as possible for people to vote, and I think that this basically what the commissioner’s court should be doing,” said Griffin, who plan’s to attend Thursday’s meeting.
Staff Writer Cody Copeland contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 4:27 PM.
