Manny Ramirez, the Tarrant County Commissioner of Precinct 4, listens to public comment during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Chris Torres
ctorres@star-telegram.com
All eligible polling places that were used in the 2022 midterm election should be used again this year, Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez said Friday.
The request comes after a heated Tuesday Commissioners Court meeting, where commissioners unanimously voted to table proposals to reduce the number of Election Day and early voting sites available in Tarrant County.
Election Day polling places would have been cut nearly in half compared to 2022, if the plan from the county’s election office had been approved. Instead, commissioners postponed a decision on where to put voting locations until a later meeting, after court members, including County Judge Tim O’Hare, raised concerns.
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In a news release, Ramirez asked Election Administrator Clint Ludwig to present the court with a voting site plan that includes every 2022 polling location that agrees to be a voting site again for the 2026 midterms. The polling places for Election Day and early voting should be the same or “substantially similar” to those used in 2022, his office said in an email.
There should be an effort to “balance these locations in an equal number by precinct,” Ramirez, a Republican who represents Precinct 4, said in a statement.
“Providing free, fair, and adequate access to the ballot is a fundamental duty of government,” Ramirez said. “There is no place, and never should be, for political motives in deciding where citizens vote. My position on this remains the same.”
Election Day is Nov. 3 and early voting runs from Oct. 19-30.
Ludwig declined to comment. He told the court Tuesday that proposed polling locations were based on math and not political.
The reduced number of midterm sites drew backlash from members of the public, advocates and candidates. State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, the Democratic nominee for Texas lieutenant governor, called the plan “obvious voter suppression” during a rally before the court convened its Tuesday meeting.
Ramirez defended the court’s track record of selecting voting sites.
“Despite recent attempts by some to manufacture controversy and division, the Tarrant County Commissioners’ Court has always delivered, and will continue to deliver, the same reliable access our communities deserve,” Ramirez said. “Voters need steady, consistent leadership on election operations, not uncertainty.”
He added that, regardless of where voting sites are located, the county has a record of electing conservative leaders and chosen “fiscal responsibility and common-sense policies.”
The court will likely meet Sept. 1 to reconsider the midterm polling locations.
O’Hare described Ramirez’s ask as “common sense” in a Friday written statement. The county judge said he supports the request “so long as there are no locations across the street from another, no locations where fewer than 20 people voted on Election Day, and polling locations are balanced between the precincts, which was not the case in 2022.”
He continued: “I have already communicated to the Elections Administrator that we need a significant number of sites added for Election Day over the original list and will thoroughly review the proposed lists once he posts them. Tarrant County voters can rest assured there will be ample polling sites, money will not be wasted, and their votes will be secure in the 2026 midterms.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2026 5:31 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
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