Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare kicked the public out of a commissioners court meeting Tuesday after the crowd erupted into jeers and began chanting “shame” as the commissioners discussed reducing the number of polling locations open during the November 2026 midterm election.
The proposal, listed on the Aug. 4 Commissioners Court agenda, would cut the number of Election Day voting locations from 316 sites used during the 2022 midterm election to 176 sites this year. If approved, the change would eliminate 140 polling places, a reduction of about 44%.
Commissioners will also consider a plan to reduce the number of early voting locations from 50 sites used during the 2022 midterms to 42 for the 2026 election.
The issues were expected to be among several election-related items discussed during Tuesday’s 10 a.m. meeting. The proposals sparked debate among county leaders and voting-rights advocates and drew dozens of people to witness the meeting in person.
Opponents in the crowd erupted as the court discussed cutting the number of polling locations. O’Hare quieted the crowd a few times before ordering the public to be kicked out of the chambers to an overflow area. Speakers were allowed in one by one and were allowed to stay after their comments.
One protester was arrested after O’Hare said he disrupted a public meeting.
Last year, the Republican majority on the Commissioners Court approved a reduction of more than 100 Election Day polling locations for a nonpresidential election, arguing that lower-turnout elections require fewer voting sites and that consolidating locations can reduce costs.
But Democratic commissioners opposed those cuts, arguing that reducing polling sites could limit access to voting and disproportionately affect communities that already face barriers to participating in elections.
State Sen. Taylor Rehmet of District 9 posted this statement to social media the day before the meeting.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, who is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, is expected to speak about the proposal during a Tuesday morning press conference and later attend the Commissioners Court meeting.
In an opinion piece published Monday by Progress Texas, Goodwin characterized the proposal as part of a broader fight over voting access in Texas.
“Tarrant County is the latest battlefront in a long history of voter suppression in this state,” Goodwin wrote. “Throughout the state, I’m hearing from Texans that they don’t trust their political leaders to look out for them. Trust is broken over time, and local governments have an opportunity to rebuild that trust by preserving and expanding their voting locations before the midterms.”
Tarrant County is considering reducing polling locations by half “to save money.” It sounds more like a way to suppress the vote. I plan to speak about this tomorrow in Tarrant County. Here’s my op/ed:https://t.co/dqlQAhc56M
— Rep. Vikki Goodwin (@VikkiGoodwinTX) August 3, 2026
If commissioners approve the proposal, voters will have access to 176 Election Day polling sites and 42 early-voting locations for the November election.
More than 1.3 million voters are registered in Tarrant County. The November ballot is expected to include more than 70 county, state and federal partisan races, along with nonpartisan elections for seats on the Tarrant Appraisal District board and the Keller Independent School District board of trustees.
Early voting is scheduled for Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. The deadline to register to vote for the November election is Oct. 5.