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<\/a> compared to the November 2022 lists.<\/p>\n In 2025, there was a record turnout<\/a> of voters after the same Commissioners Court reduced the polling locations<\/a>. A similar outcry happened then, but the average wait time was eight minutes on Election Day and just over a minute during early voting.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cDo what you\u2019re going to do, but just know that you are creating poll taxes,\u201d Miles said. \u201cModern 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\u2019t help you see it, but it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Republican County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare said his analogy was inaccurate.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no poll tax, and the problem with your analogy is there was no early voting then,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a terrible time in America. That\u2019s not what we have today. You keep pushing that narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n Simmons said the map of voting centers is \u201cobviously unfair\u201d 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s easy to say it\u2019s on your route if you got a car,\u201d Miles said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to say that it\u2019s on the bus route if you got money to buy a bus fare. What about the people who don\u2019t have the ability to do those things? They don\u2019t have what we consider just regular conveniences.\u201d<\/p>\n Miles and Simmons were the dissenting votes. Republican Commissioners Matt Krause, Manny Ramirez and O\u2019Hare were the majority approving the locations for both early voting and Election Day.<\/p>\n Ramirez, like Simmons and Miles, previously said he wanted as many as possible<\/a> of the 2022 Election Day locations on the new list. O\u2019Hare 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.<\/p>\n Public feedback to fewer polling locations<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The vast majority of speakers, including an array of November candidates, favored Simmons and Miles\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cOK, here\u2019s the three-point plan,\u201d Yisak Worku lampooned. \u201cStep one: throw out insane numbers. Let\u2019s say 140. Step two: act outraged. \u2018I can\u2019t believe these cuts. Get that number down.\u2019 Step three: you gotta really sell this part \u2014 act like barely getting the cuts under triple digits constitutes a meaningful improvement, and then pat yourself on the back.\u201d<\/p>\n Many, like Donna Reagan, said the commissioners weren\u2019t relying on their constituents\u2019 opinions to decide how to vote. So, Reagan said, they would work hard to vote the Republicans out of office. O\u2019Hare and Ramirez are both running for reelection in November. Simmons is O\u2019Hare\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t have learned about commissioners court otherwise.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople 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,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n Jayden Martinez said if fiscal responsibility is what made the court decide to cut voting locations, then they need better budgeting tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you think we would act grateful for suppressing our voting rights?\u201d Martinez said. \u201cDid you expect to say, \u2018thanks for suppressing our voices and our neighbor\u2019s voices a little bit less now?\u2019 All we are asking you to do is treat your fellow citizens with some humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Karen Wiseman, a member of the county\u2019s ballot board, said the number of Election Day voting sites stretches leaves the county thin on competent poll workers. She said it\u2019s not worth using \u201cwarm bodies\u201d incapable of processing ballots correctly for the sake of having more Election Day sites than necessary for only 30% of voters to show up.<\/p>\n Amie Super shamed Simmons for politicizing the decision<\/a>. Super, who lives in Simmons\u2019s precinct, said she should use relevant data to influence her vote on the list.<\/p>\n \u201cVoter suppression, racism, those are serious issues,\u201d Super said. \u201cOnes not relative to the decision of how many poll sites to have open on election day.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n This story was originally published September 1, 2026 at 10:53 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n![\"Community](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_11-AED_CommissionersCourt.JPG\" "\\"FTW_11-AED_CommissionersCourt.JPG\\"")
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 <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_12-AED_CommissionersCourt.JPG\" "\\"FTW_12-AED_CommissionersCourt.JPG\\"")
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 <\/p>\n![\"Community](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/FTW_06-AED_CommissionersCourt.JPG\" "\\"FTW_06-AED_CommissionersCourt.JPG\\"")
Community members fill the Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 in Fort Worth. Abigail Dollins Fort Worth Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
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