But despite the reduction, Tuesday\u2019s election saw considerably higher voter turnout compared to previous odd-year elections, with a little more than 17% of registered voters casting ballots. Statewide, 16% of registered voters participated in the election.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s seeing, especially maybe with the government shutdown and stuff, that maybe it\u2019s important to show up,\u201d said Janet Mattern, president of the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County, a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to increasing voter participation.<\/p>\n
Odd-year elections, such as Tuesday\u2019s, typically see low turnout compared to presidential and midterm elections. The past three odd-year elections saw an average of 11.9% of registered Tarrant County voters participate.<\/p>\n
In August, county commissioners used an expected low turnout as a reason to cut over 100 Election Day voting sites<\/a> and 9 early voting locations. County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare argued then that the reduction was to save $1 million on what would be an election most didn\u2019t know about.<\/p>\n \u201cI would venture to guess 99% of the public cannot name a single thing on (the 2025 ballot),\u201d O\u2019Hare said at the time. The move was criticized by Democrat commissioners and some residents, who said it amounted to voter suppression targeting minorities in the city\u2019s urban core.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republican County Commissioner Matt Krause said he \u201cabsolutely\u201d stands by his vote to reduce the number of polling sites, especially after seeing the high voter turnout. He said he\u2019s \u201cwilling to listen to that feedback\u201d if any voters were unable to cast ballots because of the reduction, but, as of Wednesday, his office had not recorded any such complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt only reinforces that those votes (to reduce) those polling sites \u2026 was good for the county because it saved money, but it also allowed everybody who wanted to vote to vote,\u201d Krause said Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next year\u2019s elections will include multiple statewide and countywide seats, including governor and U.S. Senate plus the country judge. Krause said he anticipates the county approving a list of voting sites that includes more locations than this year\u2019s election, but probably fewer than previous elections with statewide offices on the ballot.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither O\u2019Hare nor Republican commissioner Manny Ramirez, who supported the reduction in polling places, returned requests for comment on voter turnout Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tuesday included a special election for Texas Senate District 9<\/a>, which covers much of Tarrant County, at the top of the ballot, above 17 constitutional amendments<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n A little over half of the Tarrant County participants in this election cast ballots for the three Senate candidates: Fort Worth Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Southlake Republicans John Huffman and Leigh Wambsganss. Rehmet and Wambsganss are heading to a runoff election in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mattern said she was \u201cshocked\u201d to see as many people as she did lining up to vote at the Southwest Subcourthouse where she was working the polls. Other polling locations, such as North Richland Hills Library, saw lines with over an hour wait time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have fewer poll locations, people tend to go to the places where they know that there will be a poll location,\u201d Mattern said. \u201cThey don\u2019t go to the obscure areas because they don\u2019t want to drive all day to try to find places.\u201d<\/p>\n Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said the unusually high voter turnout was the result of grassroots organizing from various political groups including her party, the Tarrant County Young Democrats, political action committees, the Texas Democratic Party and other counties\u2019 party chapters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, the work paid off,\u201d Campolo said Wednesday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite \u201cpleasantly surprising\u201d voter engagement, Campolo maintains that county commissioners \u201cwithout a question\u201d disenfranchised voters by reducing early voting sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said the Democratic party fielded countless calls throughout early voting and on Election Day from voters who realized their usual polling location wasn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n \u201cCynically, my only hope is that the Republicans see how badly their candidates did yesterday and realize that closing polling locations is not good for them either,\u201d Campolo said. \u201cIt did not result in a good political outcome for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French did not return a request for comment. On election night and throughout the day Nov. 5, he posted several times on social media about the New York City mayoral election that resulted in the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor but did not post directly about Tarrant County election results.\u00a0<\/p>\n Krause believes the \u201cvery heated and expensive\u201d state Senate race \u201cgot the attention and got people excited and enthusiastic,\u201d which led to high voter turnout.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the voter turnout and voting sites necessarily had any correlation to each other,\u201d Krause said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like Wilson, Fort Worth resident Kerry Thomas cast a ballot at the Southside Community Center the morning of Election Day. The 63-year-old said he usually votes early but didn\u2019t get a chance this year, so cutting the center as an early voting site didn\u2019t impact his voting experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nothing would have stopped him from casting a ballot, he said, stressing the importance of voting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a crucial time around the world, and a lot of things are going on in Texas. A lot of things (are) going on in Tarrant County,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cSome are good, some are bad, some are bullies, and some are not.\u201d<\/p>\n Fort Worth resident Alan Brown, 41, said the reduction in polling sites didn\u2019t impact his voting experience after casting a ballot at the Riverside Community Center, where he typically votes in his neighborhood. Still, he said, he was aware of the reduction and made sure to encourage others to double check their polling site and make a plan to vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was younger, I didn\u2019t vote as regularly,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI was probably a little more vocal with the younger people I know to make sure to push them, \u2018Hey, go figure out where you need to go and go do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Voter participation was particularly higher in northeast Tarrant County, which hosted a disproportionate number of early voting locations compared to other quadrants. The area is home to Southlake, a suburb where both Republican Texas Senate candidates are residents.<\/p>\n Mattern guessed the Senate race was a driver of increased turnout in the north. But ultimately, she suspects most people came for the constitutional amendments, all of which passed.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would not be deterred,\u201d she said, recalling long voting lines across the county on Election Day. \u201c\u2018No, we will not leave this line. We will not go to another poll location. We are going to vote because it\u2019s important.\u2019 That\u2019s what I kept hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n Keller resident Carson West, 67, said changing voter demographics could impact voter turnout and results in Tarrant County. He noted that older residents like himself typically vote conservative, while younger residents and people moving to Texas from liberal states like California generally tend to vote less conservative.<\/p>\n \u201cIf older people die (and) newer people move in that have liberal tendencies, it could turn purple or blue in the next 10 years, easily,\u201d West said, standing outside the Keller Town Hall after voting Nov. 4.<\/p>\n To him, a blue Tarrant County would be \u201chorrible.\u201d West said he expects shifting from a red to blue political makeup would lead to detrimental long-term impacts, such as higher property taxes, while there probably wouldn\u2019t be much short-term change.\u00a0<\/p>\n To Keller resident Arisha Morris, 64, a blue shift would lead to needed change in Tarrant County, though she\u2019s not confident the county will see that shift any time soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say it\u2019s stuck red \u2014 because this is Texas,\u201d Morris said after voting at the Keller Town Hall on Election Day. \u201cIt would have to take a lot more people that have a mindset like I do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Morris said she has voted in all local elections since about 2016, when she started \u201cpaying attention to what\u2019s been going on in the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a> and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1104-ElectionDay-11-1-1.jpg\")
Voters head inside of Keller Town Hall on Nov. 4, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1104-ElectionDay-16-1-2.jpg\")
Fort Worth resident Kerry Thomas poses for a photo after voting at the Southside Community Center on Nov. 4, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1104-ElectionDay-12-1-1.jpg\")
A voter at the Southside Community Center holds an \u2018I Voted\u2019 sticker on Nov. 4, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
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