One Of Texas’ Largest Counties Reduced Voting Locations By 92–Including On College Campus–Citing “Efficiency”: Voting Rights Advocates And Democrats Say Its Voter Suppression

Following a contentious party-line vote of 3-2 in favor of Republicans, Tarrant County Commissioners moved to shutter 92 voting locations in the county, and now election analysts and civil rights groups are not only questioning the timing of the move but the motive as well.

The decision by the Commissioners reduce the total number of polling sites in the county to 224, down from 316 polling sites in 2022.

Voting rights proponents are also worried if the decision will spark a broader trend across Texas–a state that will pay a pivotal role in the November midterm elections, in an election that many polls show Democrats may have an advantage in.

The approved plan alters the distribution of polling places across the county, a move that some local officials say is necessary to optimize county resources. Proponents of the measure argued that the adjustments streamline election operations, manage taxpayer funds more efficiently, and keep the county in strict compliance with state election laws.

The vote faced immediate pushback from voting rights advocates and community organizers. Opponents argue that reducing the number of physical polling sites will disproportionately affect students, elderly residents, and low-income communities by increasing travel times and creating longer lines on Election Day.

The initial vote was set to to place a month ago on August 4th but, according to Fox 4, ” during that August 4 meeting, heated debate broke out, resulting in multiple clearings of the room after a resident compared the plan to Texas becoming Russia, and after another resident called the vote “extremist (expletive).”

The clear majority of speakers at the meeting were in support of keeping the locations open.

A central flashpoint of the commissioners’ debate centered on polling locations at higher education institutions. Among the voting sites that were cut is a site on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.

Younger viewers tend to skew Democratic, another sign to opponents of the closure that the vote was about politics, and limiting the youth vote, and not about saving county taxpayer dollars.

This year’s Texas elections feature a race for governor, U.S. House races, and a race for the U.S. Senate among other statewide and legislative contests. Control of the Senate may depend on who prevails in the race, which features Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic State Senator James Talarico.

Polls have shown a tight race between Paxton and Talarico.

Tarrant County is home to the City of Forth Worth, which is part of the Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas metropolitan are, which itself is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States.