Voters outside a polling place in St. Paul, Minnesota on November 3, 2020 (Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons)
Local Texas officials will vote Tuesday about whether county officials can cut polling places in a key battleground county by 30 percent.
Democracy Docket reported Tuesday that Republican officials in Tarrant County, Texas, crafted a new strategy to reduce access to the polls on Nov. 3 by cutting 92 polling locations. Early voting locations would be cut from 50 to 47.
The vote comes after local officials postponed an initial consideration of an even more sweeping proposal that faced strong public opposition. In the Aug. 4 meeting, the officials attempted to cut polling places by nearly 50 percent, despite increases in the county's population.
It would mean 316 voting locations would be cut to just 176 for a population of about 2,248,466 people, according to 2025 Census data. To put that in context, Phoenix, Arizona, has roughly 1.6 million residents and 236 vote centers across Maricopa County. Tarrant County seeks to have fewer polling places, but with 800,000 more people.
Fewer sites mean concentrated demand. If election officials do not replace the lost capacity and access, the practical effect can be that some eligible voters face greater obstacles to casting a ballot. It can make voting slower, farther away and harder to navigate. This, combined with not enough poll workers, confusing voting equipment, fewer early voting options and limited transportation support, can result in long lines and lower turnout.
After a huge backlash, officials backed away from the initial consideration, but not by much. The new plan is to reduce the number of polling places to 224. It's still fewer than Phoenix, which has 800,000 fewer people.
Democracy Docket explained that the county has a growing minority population and, over the past two years, has shifted more toward Democrats. Earlier this year, Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for a state Senate seat, surprising Texas Republicans.
Opposition has extended beyond angry voters. The Fort Worth City Council unanimously urged Tarrant County officials to preserve or even expand the number of available polling locations. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat running for governor, called the county “ground zero” for Texas elections this year.
“When you look at where those cuts hit the hardest, it’s the same neighborhoods that have always been targeted,” said Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons. “The ones with the lowest income zip codes, the most Black and Hispanic communities in this county. The places where folks are less likely to have a car.”
During the initial meeting, Simmons called the effort a “deliberate act to reduce voter access.”
The public response was huge, gathering so many people to a normally quiet county meeting that they needed two overflow rooms. People were so upset that "O’Hare ordered law enforcement to clear the meeting room," Democracy Docket said. People were arrested, and former state Rep. Lon Burnam (D) was carried out of the room by police and detained overnight.
"The Fort Worth City Council voted unanimously to urge Tarrant County officials" to open more polling places, the report closed.