Tarrant County will have 224 Election Day and 47 early voting polling locations for the November midterm election after numerous calls for more to be added to the original list.
Last month, Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig presented a suggested list of polling locations that offered to use roughly half the number of sites that were used in the 2022 midterm election. The Commissioners Court entirely opposed the slash, saying it was far too drastic.
In their marathon 10-hour meeting Tuesday, the commissioners voted along party lines to approve 29% fewer Election Day and 6% fewer early voting centers compared to the November 2022 lists.
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In 2025, there was a record turnout of voters after the same Commissioners Court reduced the polling locations. A similar outcry happened then, but the average wait time was eight minutes on Election Day and just over a minute during early voting.
While workshopping the polling list from Aug. 4, the elections administration reached out to each of the 479 locations that were used in November 2022 or 2024. Of those, there were 269 able and willing to host voters again this midterm. Ludwig said the team whittled down from that list to account for balance across the four precincts and reasonable proximity to another location.
The approved list, Ludwig said, benefits Precincts 1 and 2 because they have fewer registered voters than the northern precincts but have just as many voting centers. It is not statutorily required to have equal numbers of polling locations across the four county precincts, though it was criteria given by a 2019 citizen advisory committee.
Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons requested several sites be added to the early voting list and almost 150 be added to Election Day. The amendment was turned down because many of the early voting sites were unavailable or gave the southern precincts more locations than the northern precincts had.
Simmons and Democrat Commissioner Roderick Miles said the diminution of polling locations creates unfair voter access. Miles called it a modern poll tax, which created a barrier for low-income individuals wanting to cast a ballot up until the 1960s in Texas.
“Do what you’re going to do, but just know that you are creating poll taxes,” Miles said. “Modern day poll taxes for people to go and vote and do what they have the right to do. You may not see it, and I can’t help you see it, but it is what it is.”
Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare said his analogy was inaccurate.
“There is no poll tax, and the problem with your analogy is there was no early voting then,” he said. “It was a terrible time in America. That’s not what we have today. You keep pushing that narrative.”
Community members hold up signs opposing the proposed cuts of voting sites on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Simmons said the map of voting centers is “obviously unfair” because the cuts are most deeply felt in Precincts 1 and 2, where minority voters with predominantly live. The southern parts of Tarrant County also had many of the least used sites in 2022.
The approved Election Day locations are on average 1.56 miles from the next closest, Ludwig said. Fifty are within one-third of a mile from a bus stop.
“It’s easy to say it’s on your route if you got a car,” Miles said. “It’s easy to say that it’s on the bus route if you got money to buy a bus fare. What about the people who don’t have the ability to do those things? They don’t have what we consider just regular conveniences.”
Miles and Simmons were the dissenting votes. Republican Commissioners Matt Krause, Manny Ramirez and O’Hare were the majority approving the locations for both early voting and Election Day.
Ramirez, like Simmons and Miles, previously said he wanted as many as possible of the 2022 Election Day locations on the new list. O’Hare and Krause said there should not be any Election Day voting locations across the street from one another or with fewer than 20 people using it.
Public feedback to fewer polling locations
Tuesday morning, there were several demonstrations in front of the county administration building, where the meeting took place. Most, hosted by a coalition of local Democratic groups, discussed dismay at the number of deaths in the county jail and the reduction of polling locations. One was a Mercy Culture Church and For Liberty and Justice worship gathering calling for Jesus to come to Tarrant County.
Roughly 115 people came to the podium during public comment to tell the commissioners their opinions on the proposed list. There were two designated overflow rooms full of public commenters; more had to wait in the lobby or outside.
The vast majority of speakers, including an array of November candidates, favored Simmons and Miles’s viewpoint. They asked for the reasons behind the cuts and said the Republican majority was intentionally limiting voter access. All of them agreed the additions made from the original proposal were not enough.
“OK, here’s the three-point plan,” Yisak Worku lampooned. “Step one: throw out insane numbers. Let’s say 140. Step two: act outraged. ‘I can’t believe these cuts. Get that number down.’ Step three: you gotta really sell this part — act like barely getting the cuts under triple digits constitutes a meaningful improvement, and then pat yourself on the back.”
A community member holds up a sign opposing the proposed cuts of voting sites on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Many, like Donna Reagan, said the commissioners weren’t relying on their constituents’ opinions to decide how to vote. So, Reagan said, they would work hard to vote the Republicans out of office. O’Hare and Ramirez are both running for reelection in November. Simmons is O’Hare’s opposition.
Stephanie Graham thanked the Republicans on the court for making national headlines while in office, because it created an engaged group of people who wouldn’t have learned about commissioners court otherwise.
“People are paying attention now, and we finally have great candidates stepping forward who will put people before money, represent their entire communities and listen even when people disagree with them,” Graham said.
Jayden Martinez said if fiscal responsibility is what made the court decide to cut voting locations, then they need better budgeting tactics.
“Did you think we would act grateful for suppressing our voting rights?” Martinez said. “Did you expect to say, ‘thanks for suppressing our voices and our neighbor’s voices a little bit less now?’ All we are asking you to do is treat your fellow citizens with some humanity.”
Ten people told the court the cut was the correct decision, many citing fiscal responsibility. It costs the county thousands of dollars to operate one polling location.
Karen Wiseman, a member of the county’s ballot board, said the number of Election Day voting sites stretches leaves the county thin on competent poll workers. She said it’s not worth using “warm bodies” incapable of processing ballots correctly for the sake of having more Election Day sites than necessary for only 30% of voters to show up.
Amie Super shamed Simmons for politicizing the decision. Super, who lives in Simmons’s precinct, said she should use relevant data to influence her vote on the list.
“Voter suppression, racism, those are serious issues,” Super said. “Ones not relative to the decision of how many poll sites to have open on election day.”
The full list of Election Day and early voting locations are available on the Tarrant County website. Election Day is Nov. 3 and early voting is from Oct. 19-30. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5.
Community members fill the Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram
This story was originally published September 1, 2026 10:53 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.