Tarrant County Officials Say Polling Site Cuts Would Save Resources, While Democrats and Voting Rights Groups Warn Black and Latino Voters Could Be Disproportionately Affected
Tarrant County could dramatically reduce the number of places where residents vote this November, setting up another fight over ballot access in one of Texas’ largest and most politically competitive counties.
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a revised plan that would leave the county with 92 fewer Election Day polling locations than it operated during the 2022 midterm elections. More than 200 vote centers would remain open across the county, according to county officials.
The decision carries statewide implications. Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth and more than 2 million residents, is Texas’ third-largest county and an important battleground in November’s U.S. Senate contest between Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Talarico Joins Opposition to Polling Site Cuts
Talarico joined local Democrats and voting rights advocates Sunday in urging commissioners to reject the proposal.
“The most powerful people in this county, the most powerful people in this country, don’t want us to be able vote easily,” Talarico said during a news conference.
County officials reject accusations that reducing the number of sites amounts to voter suppression.
Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig has said the proposal is intended to concentrate election resources at locations that voters actually use rather than staffing sites that attract relatively few people.
Republican state Rep. Matt Shaheen, chairman of the Texas House Elections Committee, similarly dismissed claims that counties reducing polling locations are attempting to suppress turnout.
“We’re clearly not trying to suppress the vote,” Shaheen said. “That’s a silly accusation.”
The dispute comes after an even larger proposed reduction triggered hours of public opposition earlier this month.
On Aug. 4, commissioners postponed a decision after Ludwig initially proposed reducing Election Day locations from 316 during the 2022 midterms to 176 this November, a cut of roughly 45%. The proposal also called for 42 early voting sites, compared with 50 in 2022.
Even Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare said at the time that 176 Election Day locations represented too steep a reduction.
“I’m not comfortable with 176 election sites,” O’Hare said. “I think that’s way too large a cut.”
Commissioners unanimously delayed the decision until their Sept. 1 meeting and instructed election officials to return with additional sites.
Voting Rights Groups Warn Minority Communities Could Be Hit Hardest
Opposition has continued as Tuesday’s vote approaches.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, American Civil Liberties Union and other voting rights organizations sent county officials a letter Friday urging them to reject the reductions. The groups argue that consolidating voting locations could have an outsized effect on Black, Latino and Asian American voters.
Nearly one-third of Tarrant County residents are Hispanic, while about 19% are Black, according to Census figures cited by the Associated Press.
Carol Raburn, who served as an election judge during the county’s March primaries, said fewer convenient locations could discourage people who already face difficulties getting to the polls.
“Because what happens when people don’t have a convenient place to go vote that’s not too far away from where they are, where they live?” Raburn said. “They just don’t go vote because they’ve made it so difficult.”
County officials say accessibility was considered in developing the revised proposal. Sites near bus routes and locations that comply with federal accessibility requirements were prioritized, according to the county.
Officials say the average distance between Election Day locations under the plan would be about 1.5 miles.
O’Hare has argued that the county can provide sufficient access without keeping multiple voting sites operating in close proximity.
“All of this is accomplished without the wasteful practice of placing polling sites directly across the street from one other,” he said.
Tarrant County Voters Can Use Any Vote Center
Texas counties generally have broad authority over the number and location of polling sites they operate.
Tarrant County adopted a countywide vote center system in 2019, meaning registered voters are not restricted to a neighborhood precinct on Election Day. Instead, they may cast their ballot at any Election Day vote center in the county. Tarrant County’s elections office currently confirms that voters can use any county vote center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Supporters of consolidation argue that system makes it possible to eliminate lightly used locations while maintaining access elsewhere.
Opponents counter that having the legal ability to vote anywhere does not necessarily mean every voter has transportation, time or the familiarity needed to reach another site.
The dispute also comes amid a broader decline in the number of polling locations used in parts of Texas. Election officials have cited staffing difficulties, the expansion of countywide vote centers and low turnout at individual locations as reasons for consolidating sites.
Tarrant County itself reduced polling locations for the November 2025 election. Officials said at the time that some locations had extremely low participation and that reductions could save the county money.
The political scrutiny surrounding this year’s decision, however, is significantly greater.
Along with the Talarico-Paxton Senate contest, several county offices will appear on the November ballot, including positions held by members of the Commissioners Court deciding the polling-location plan.
Tuesday’s vote will determine how many places Tarrant County’s more than 2 million residents will have available when voting begins in one of Texas’ most consequential elections.
