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Plan to Cut Polling Sites in Major Texas County Draws Protests as Senate Battle Looms
🇺🇸 United States /Culture & Society

Plan to Cut Polling Sites in Major Texas County Draws Protests as Senate Battle Looms

From PBS NewsHour · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Tarrant County officials will vote on a plan to eliminate 92 Election Day polling locations compared with the 2022 midterm elections.
  • Democrats and voting-rights groups oppose the reductions, while county officials say they are removing low-turnout sites and retaining more than 200 locations.
  • The county is a key battleground in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.

A plan to cut 92 Election Day polling locations in Tarrant County is drawing protests as Texas prepares for a closely watched U.S. Senate contest. The county, which includes Fort Worth and borders Dallas, is one of the state’s largest and has more than 2 million residents.

County officials are scheduled to vote on the proposal Tuesday. They say it would eliminate sites with low turnout and save resources, while leaving voters with more than 200 places to cast ballots. Officials also said the sites retained under the plan were prioritized for access to bus routes and compliance with federal accessibility requirements. The average distance between Election Day locations would be 1.5 miles, or 2.4 kilometers.

The proposal has drawn criticism from Democrats and voting-rights organizations. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for the Senate against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, urged the county to reject it. “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 at a Sunday news conference.

The most powerful people in this county, the most powerful people in this country, don't want us to be able vote easily.

— James TalaricoThe Democratic state representative urged Tarrant County officials to reject the polling-site reduction plan.

The NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and other voting-rights groups signed a letter opposing the plan. They said closures would be felt most strongly in areas with high percentages of minority voters. Republican Rep. Matt Shaheen rejected accusations of voter suppression, saying, “We're clearly not trying to suppress the vote. That's a silly accusation.”

Texas law allows each of the state’s 254 counties to determine how many polling places to operate. Tarrant County adopted countywide voting in 2019, but did not immediately reduce its polling locations. County elections officials say reductions have become more common because of countywide voting and difficulties recruiting poll workers. Other counties have considered cuts, while some have added locations.

We're clearly not trying to suppress the vote. That's a silly accusation.

— Matt ShaheenThe Republican chair of the House Elections Committee rejected claims that polling-site reductions were intended to suppress voting.
About this summary

Originally published by PBS NewsHour in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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