Voters voice concerns about eliminated Tarrant County voting locations

Dozens of activists and voters voiced concerns at Tuesday evening's Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting, protesting a plan to cut the number of polling sites for the upcoming midterm election.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to reduce general election sites to 224 from 316 during the last midterm election and early voting locations to 47 from 50.

Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig said the reduction will eliminate sites that are too close to other locations or are no longer available, while saving money.

"One of the locations that had verbally agreed to be on the list actually provided in writing, actually is no longer going to be a location," Ludwig said.

Commissioner Alisa Simmons proposed adding sites.

"This is not about cost. This is about power," Simmons said.

Southern Methodist University political science professor Matthew Wilson said the cuts are less likely to affect early voting.

"On Election Day itself, do we see large lines developing at polling locations?" Wilson said.

Opponents said many of the eliminated polling locations are in communities of color.

"That would suggest that there may be an attempt at least to have a partisan impact," Wilson said. "We know that younger voters tend to skew somewhat more Democratic, that African-American voters skew a lot more Democratic, and that the Hispanic electorate skews somewhat more Democratic."

The University of Texas at Arlington is among the polling locations eliminated. Students would have voted at the Maverick Activities Center but will have to find another location. The nearest polling location is at the Tarrant County Sub-Courthouse in Arlington, about a three-minute drive from campus.

"I think it's deliberate, and I feel like we shouldn't be voting for an administration that actively tries to stop people from voting and making it harder for people of color and students, which are more vulnerable populations," UTA student Ariella Ola-Kehinde said.

"College students can't really get off campus since they don't really have a car or an easy transportation," UTA student Cambry Charles said.

"I'm going to have to find somewhere else to vote. I mean, we still need to do our civic duty. We still need to vote," UTA student Daniela Herrera said.

The elections administrator estimates that each early voting location costs more than $22,000 and each Election Day polling place costs $4,400.