An official vote center sign is seen at Oak Lawn Branch Library on the first day of early voting, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/Staff Photographer
A New York congressman pitched online voter registration last week in Dallas.
The room laughed. Texas doesn’t allow it.
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“You may have the best barbecue, but you need a better system for people to vote,” U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle said, a moment that underscored the widening divide over voting rules after the March 3 primary turmoil.
The Democrat later added: “1972 is calling and they want their voting system back.”
Vote tabulators in storage at the Dallas County Elections Operations Facility on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Dallas. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)
Juan Figueroa/TNS
The forum, hosted by U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, was in response to the mayhem during the primary, when more than 10,000 people went to the wrong polling sites after the Dallas County GOP forced a switch from countywide to precinct-level voting.
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An empty bag used to hold Democratic Primary election provisional ballots at the Dallas County Elections Operations Facility on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Dallas.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
The fallout didn’t just expose logistical breakdowns. It intensified a long-running fight over how elections should work, from where Texans can cast ballots to how they register in the first place, with each party pushing sharply different views.
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Republican leaders and grassroots activists say voter fraud threatens elections and support aggressive steps to stop it, such as requiring proof of citizenship to register and tightening ID rules.
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Democrats dispute the notion of widespread illegal voting and say the GOP’s approach would make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast ballots.
The divide between the parties makes it difficult to implement policies that make it easier and more convenient to vote.
Election fears
President Donald Trump has not backed off his disproven charge that the 2020 presidential race – won by Democrat Joe Biden – was stolen.
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Even in Texas, where Republicans have controlled politics since 2003, some GOP leaders warn that elections are ripe for theft.
Sen. John Cornyn, seeking reelection, has called for requiring proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote, even signaling support for changing Senate rules to pass such a measure.
His rival in the GOP runoff May 26, Attorney General Ken Paxton, has made protecting against “noncitizens voting” and “ballot schemes” a focal point of his campaign.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Associated Press and DMN Staff/Associated Press
In Dallas County, that push led to a high-stakes shift in how ballots were cast last month.
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Instead of universal polling places on election day, Republicans forced a return to a system requiring people to vote at their assigned precinct.
Despite media coverage and efforts at polling sites to redirect voters, the outcome was chaotic, and some likely gave up trying to vote.
The situation could have been worse. The local GOP had explored having primary ballots counted by hand. That would have been costly to the party and taken considerably more time to complete.
Still, the Dallas County GOP’s executive committee lashed out at the party chairman, Allen West, after he signed a contract with the county to return to countywide voting for the runoff.
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Former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, and currently the Executive Director of the American Constitutional Rights Union, Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, take part in the pledge of allegiance during a rally, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Mansfield.
Shafkat Anowar/Staff Photographer
As criticism mounted, West resigned last week before a planned “no-confidence” vote by the committee.
Expanding fight
The flap underscored a key distinction: primaries are controlled by political parties. It’s their nomination process, unlike general elections run by state and local officials.
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There’s more to come. Paxton and the Texas GOP have challenged state laws that require open primaries, seeking to limit participation to registered party members.
The fight builds on years of clashes over election rules. In 2021, Texas Democrats broke quorum to try to block a GOP-backed bill that rolled back practices adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, including drive-through voting and expanded access to mail ballots.
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There are areas where the parties have overlapped. Polls show broad support for voter ID, and some Democrats in Texas have previously raised concerns about mail ballot fraud, including former state Rep. Steve Wolens of Dallas and Mayor Eric Johnson when he was a Democratic state House member.
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Democrats and voting rights advocates have also urged Republicans to get behind measures to make voting easier, including same-day registration, more funding for elections and expanded voter education.
Backers say that could result in shorter lines, less confusion and higher turnout.