Did Southlake's Festival of Lights affect early voting? Officials reopen streets after concerns
Southlake officials and Festival of Lights organizers adjusted street closures and parking arrangements at Town Hall on Saturday, after concerns were raised about access to the early voting location during the community event.
What happened at Southlake Town Hall?
Festival of Lights took place in Southlake Town Square on Oct. 24, while nearby Southlake Town Hall, at 1400 Main St., continued to serve as a Tarrant County early voting location. Street closures, barricades and parking restrictions raised concerns about access to the polling location.
Southlake City Council Member Chuck Taggart said in a statement that the first reports of voting-access concerns were received at 7:46 a.m. He said officials and event organizers worked throughout the day to adjust barricades and improve traffic.
Taggart said the last barricades were removed at 5:02 p.m. The city separately said it reopened additional streets near Rustin and Family parks after a temporary restraining order was issued late in the afternoon concerning access to Town Hall as a polling location.
City of Southlake says polling access remained open
In a statement on Oct. 24, the City of Southlake said all Town Hall entrances stayed open to voters from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The city also said it worked with event organizers to reduce the event's footprint and reopen streets adjacent to Town Hall.
The city said it was committed to ensuring full public access to Town Hall during the remainder of early voting and on Election Day.
Festival organizers acknowledge parking oversight
The Southlake Foundation, which organizes the Festival of Lights, said it planned the event nearly a year in advance but did not realize how much parking would need to be closed to accommodate the fireworks display.
The foundation's statement said parking near the polling location was affected and announced that it would cancel the fireworks show and ask the city to reopen parking on the south side of Town Hall, stating, "It is very important to us to not present any obstacle for Texans exercising their right to vote."
Voter turnout falls on Saturday
Election data shows that 1,444 votes were cast at Southlake Town Hall on Saturday, down from 1,773 on Friday.
Southlake Town Hall daily reported totals:
- Monday, Oct. 19: 1,752 votes
- Tuesday, Oct. 20: 1,821 votes
- Wednesday, Oct. 21: 1,774 votes
- Thursday, Oct. 22: 1,632 votes
- Friday, Oct. 23: 1,773 votes
- Saturday, Oct. 24: 1,444 votes
- Sunday, Oct. 25: 908
"To be clear, these numbers alone cannot establish precisely how many voters were discouraged or prevented from voting because of the event. Other factors can influence daily turnout, "Taggart said in a statement. "However, the numbers certainly do not support confidently dismissing the possibility that the event affected voter participation … I respectfully but firmly disagree with anyone suggesting that the event had absolutely no impact on voting."
The total number of early votes cast in Tarrant County on Friday was 50,949; up to 51,080 on Saturday.
In Dallas County, the number of early votes cast on Saturday fell to 36,510, down from 54,295 on Friday.
Collin County saw 34,724 early votes cast on Friday, compared to 34,061 on Saturday.
Denton County also saw fewer votes cast on Saturday, down to 27,858 from 30,135 on Friday.
