20 election judges and 200 clerks still needed to fully staff March 3 voting locations.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — With the Texas primary election just days away, Tarrant County and political parties are in a rush to fill roughly 200 poll worker positions.
According to Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig, at last check, the county is still short 20 election judges and about 200 clerks needed to fully staff 199 polling across the county for March 3. The vacancy of 200 clerks includes 11-12 Vietnamese bilingual speakers and around 50 bilingual Spanish speakers.
“This is the first time that we’ve really had a shortage like this, this close to the election,” Ludwig said.
He has served as the elections administrator since August 2023.
In Texas primary elections, political parties are responsible for staffing Election Day polling sites. Local Republican and Democratic party leaders appoint presiding judges, alternate judges and clerks to work each location.
“You need a judge to open a polling location,” Ludwig said. “And you need clerks to help those judges run each site.”
Under state law, every polling place must have a presiding judge and an alternate judge, typically from different political parties, along with clerks who check in voters, manage ballots and operate voting equipment.
Without enough judges, Ludwig said, polling sites cannot open, and if judges can’t find enough clerks, wait times could be longer.
“We’re working as much as we can to assist the parties and help them get this done,” Ludwig said. “I’m concerned, cause we want everything to be open that we said was gonna be open.”
Voters still have the opportunity to early vote on Friday, and Ludwig said he feels confident things will run smoothly and the county is prepared.
While the political parties are responsible for providing workers during primaries, Ludwig said the county’s Elections Administration office is stepping in to help recruit and fill vacancies.
“We’re making calls, we’re reaching out, we’re trying to help however we can,” Ludwig said. “The worst case is: if I don’t have people to open a polling location, I can’t open it.
The positions are paid, and training is provided.
“If we don’t have the clerks to assist the judge, it’s gonna take a long time to process an individual,” Ludwig said. “Fortunately, at this time, the big busy locations, those are always the first ones to fill up. Some of the more obscure locations out there we’re trying to fill the vacancies on.”
New poll workers still have the opportunity to assist by training this Friday and Saturday.
To serve as a clerk, applicants must be registered to vote in Tarrant County. Those interested may submit a completed application by email to electionday@tarrantcountytx.gov or by mail to P.O. Box 961011, Fort Worth, Texas 76161-0011. Applicants may also contact the county elections office at 817-831-8683 for more information.
You can also reach out to the Tarrant County Republican and Democratic parties to serve as a poll worker.
County officials are urging eligible residents to sign up quickly as they work to close the staffing gap and ensure polling locations across Tarrant County can open and operate smoothly on Election Day.