TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Tarrant County commissioners didn't finalize early voting locations Wednesday after Republicans questioned whether three universities should continue hosting polling places that have been on their campuses for years.
Commissioners effectively delayed deciding where Tarrant County voters may cast their ballots during the 12-day early voting period. The vote fell on party lines, with Republicans moving to revisit the list.
The panel has about one month to compromise. Early voting begins on Oct. 21 in Texas.
Tarrant County elections administrator Clint Ludwig proposed 50 locations for early voting during the meeting. He said 49 of those sites hosted ballot boxes during the primary elections earlier this year.
But there were 53 early voting sites during the 2020 presidential election, when the voting window was shorter and thousands of people mailed in their ballots.
"This election, we struggled finding locations," Ludwig said.
Tarrant County needs at least 60 or 70 early voting sites to prevent long lines at ballot boxes this year, Ludwig estimated.
Despite that warning, Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare questioned whether the polling sites at TCU, UTA, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary are necessary.
"The purpose of choosing places to vote is to give the biggest access to the public," O'Hare said. "Some of these campuses do not provide the best access to vote."
O'Hare argued it's too difficult to park at TCU's student union, though there's a free lot for visitors across the street and the union frequently hosts public events.
He also questioned why Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary needs its own polling place, since the James Avenue Service Center is about half a mile away. He made a similar argument about the polling location at UTA's Maverick Activities Center, which is one mile from the Tarrant County Sub-courthouse in Arlington.
"Having two locations literally a parking lot away from each other seems like an incredible waste of money," O'Hare said.
Ludwig told O'Hare the Arlington locations in question are each among Tarrant County's busier polling places, but he acknowledged he selected Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to host ballot boxes "because we did it before."
Of the 50 proposed locations for early voting in Tarrant County, 8 are on college campuses.
"It's definitely an attempt to get more students to vote," O'Hare said. "I don't believe it's the role of the commissioners court to go make sure we get more of this group to vote or more of that group to vote. That's up to voters, political parties and candidates."
O'Hare asked if there are other polling locations in Tarrant County that are chosen to encourage a specific group of people to vote.
"All of our voting sites are targeted to get specific people to vote. That's why they're in specific neighborhoods," Commissioner Roy Brooks, a Democrat, retorted.
Brooks noted the on-campus voting sites typically draw strong turnout.
"To eliminate them, I think, would be an act of voter suppression," Brooks continued.
Brooks and Commissioner Alisa Simmons voted to approve the list, including the college campuses. O'Hare and Commissioner Gary Fickes rejected the list. Commissioner Manny Ramirez, a Republican, was absent Wednesday.
It's not entirely clear when the court will revisit the early voting matter. The panel did, however, finalize polling locations for Election Day.
Fickes, a Republican, joined the Democrats to approve the proposal even though Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French warned the map could put Republicans at a disadvantage.
There will be 181 Election Day voting locations in Precincts 1 and 2, traditionally Democratic strongholds. There will be 169 Election Day voting locations in Precincts 3 and 4, traditionally Republican strongholds.
Precinct 1 had a higher population density in 2019 than the other three, Ludwig said, so it got 14 more voting sites than any other district. He added that he asked commissioners for help finding additional election day polling places in Precincts 2. 3 and 4, but they did not identify other options.
Using a formula established in a relatively new law, the state requires Tarrant County to have 347 polling places open on election day.
"In order to meet the law, beggars can't be choosers," Ludwig said. "Without available locations, I have to meet that number."
Wednesday, commissioners also approved a pay raise for election judges to $18 per hour and a pay raise for poll workers to $15 per hour. Despite approving the increase, commissioners lamented that Dallas County still pays their election workers more.