In a special meeting, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved 51 early voting polling locations, including Texas Christian University, the University of Texas at Arlington, and UNT Health Science Center. Local residents have blasted the 4-1 decision.
Republican Commissioners Manny Ramirez and Gary Fickes voted with Democrat Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roy Charles Brooks in favor of the plan.
Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French posted on X that community accessibility is problematic for these locations.
The majority of voters are suppressed by these sites. Most people can not access them easily.
In his testimony before the commissioners court Thursday, French explained that the University of Texas at Arlington, in particular, and college locations in general have historically low turnout due to accessibility issues—particularly parking.
French also explained that there have been issues at UTA in the past with students who believed they were registered to vote but were not registered to vote in Tarrant County.
“People need to vote where they live,” Christine Welborn, president of Advancing Integrity, told Texas Scorecard. “College students are often not permanent residents of the place where they attend school, and if they vote there, they may decide a local race for actual area residents.”
She highlighted that with Texas’ decision to leave ERIC—the interstate crosscheck program—last year, it’s more important than ever to ensure people are not voting twice. According to Welborn, the best way to address this issue is to ensure people are voting close to home.
Democrat activists turned out in force for the commissioners meeting, objecting to the removal of polling locations from universities. Many of their arguments centered around the idea that such a move would disenfranchise college students.
State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) responded to that argument:
Democrats flooded the commissioners court today to advocate that locations with less accessibility for seniors & those with a disability, college campuses, should be prioritized so that ABLE BODIED young adults don’t have to walk or drive 3/4 of a mile to vote.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, the sole vote against the decision, said he believes he is giving college students more credit than the Democrat activists who seem to think that students cannot find a polling location if it’s not at their university.
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