Tarrant County commissioners to slash voting locations
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court met Tuesday to approve polling locations for the special election coming up in November. The proposal under consideration was to slash the number of locations where people can cast their ballots.
In 2023, the last non-presidential election year, Tarrant County had 330 polling locations on Election Day. The proposal for 2025 calls for 214 locations, a 35% drop.
Early voting locations are also being cut. In 2023, there were 44 locations across the county. This year, the proposal has 24 locations, a 45% drop.
Additionally, there are zero proposed voting locations at college campuses in Tarrant County, compared to two in 2023.
This comes the year after County Judge Tim O'Hare pushed for having no early voting on higher education campuses for the 2024 election. After a contentious meeting, the court ultimately voted against the plan.
Tuesday evening, the commissioners decided to move forward with slashing the early voting locations.
Fort Worth council member's concerns
Ahead of the vote, Fort Worth city council member Mia Hall criticized the proposed list of polling sites for lacking any locations in the Lake Como, Southside or Northside neighborhoods.
"While I understand the pressures of state regulations and budgetary constraints, disenfranchising entire communities is not an acceptable response. The scale of these proposed closures is too extreme and risks setting a troubling precedent for future elections," Hall said in a statement.
On the ballot for the Nov. 4 election, voters will decide on amendments to the state constitution, including property tax cuts, and a handful of municipal elections. Residents of Senate District 9, which covers much of the northern and western parts of Tarrant County, will have a special election to fill the seat vacated by Kelly Hancock, who is now the state comptroller.
CBS News Texas reached out to each of the commissioners for comment on the proposed voting locations but has not heard back.