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Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting on Feb. 10 in Fort Worth. A reader says the court is suppressing votes by closing 92 polling places.<\/p>\n
Maria Crane\/Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
Tarrant County voters\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Sept. 1, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted to reduce the number of poll sites for November election from 316 to 224, or by 92 sites. The vote was 3-2 along party lines. \u00a0<\/p>\n
One of those sites is the University of Texas at Arlington campus\u2019 only polling site. Now the closest polling site for UTA students is almost a 30-minute walk away. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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The decision to reduce the county voting sites was made after commissioners heard testimony from more than 100 speakers, the majority of whom were opposed to the site cuts, during a meeting that lasted over eight hours. \u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 1.3 million people are registered to vote in Tarrant County. I\u2019d like to see more news about this obvious act of voter suppression. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Kathleen Newman, Richardson\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s voter suppression\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many claim that Texas Republicans are prioritizing election integrity ahead of November. This is beyond misleading. Let\u2019s call this what it is\u00a0\u2014 the Texas GOP\u2019s ongoing and deliberate campaign to suppress the vote in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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We saw it in March with the Dallas County Republican Party\u2019s insistence on precinct level voting during the primary, and we\u2019re seeing it again with these mail-in ballot restrictions. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Please frame the issue accurately. This is not election integrity. It\u2019s voter suppression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yasmin Simon, Highland Park\u00a0<\/p>\n
Get informed and vote\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the past three decades, the Texas GOP has controlled, or been controlled by, five areas: the executive, judicial, legislative, financial and religious fundamentalism. In the period since Ann Richards was governor, the state has excelled in producing billionaires, forcing Christianity into areas in violation of the U.S. constitution and growing mega-churches, while quality of life issues for the average Texan \u2014 health care, infant mortality, women\u2019s rights, nutrition programs, wages and education \u2014 have dropped to nearly the bottom of the national ratings. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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Election campaigns have reached nosebleed heights of spending based on corporate and individual billionaire donations and the obvious quid pro quo that creates. \u00a0<\/p>\n
With some areas like Tarrant County attempting to act to suppress voter access, threats of ICE at polling locations and campaign ads fraught with disinformation, it is incumbent on all Texas voters to sort through the chaff, get informed and get out to vote in November, no matter what your affiliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Craig S. Marckwardt, Dallas\u00a0<\/p>\n
Defending IDs \u00a0<\/p>\n
Re: \u201cNot a happy voter,\u201d by Daryl Davis, Sept. 4 Letters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Davis is unhappy because the secretary of state\u2019s website knew his voter ID but rejected his 39-year-old driver\u2019s license. And for this reason, he plans on voting for the likes of a college-indoctrinated Senate candidate who, when asked to count the sexes, doesn\u2019t know to stop counting at two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
See, here\u2019s the way things are today. When I go to Lowe\u2019s, I show my veteran identification card. \u00a0Then, I recite my phone number. Then, the store clerk scans the bar code on the back of my driver\u2019s license. \u00a0Now, I\u2019m all set to get 10% off on a bag of water softener salt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s today\u2019s program. \u00a0Get with it. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Kenneth K. Ebmeier, Round Rock\u00a0<\/p>\n
Voters demand better\u00a0<\/p>\n
Re: \u201cDucking the tough questions\u00a0\u2014 Paxton, Talarico platforms cater to base voters,\u201d Aug. 18 editorial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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This editorial criticizing James Talarico and Ken Paxton for failing to address the real issues about which voters are concerned highlights an important concern. Voters who evaluate candidates individually need to understand their positions. \u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, Talarico claims on his website that he is a proponent of strong border security. If that\u2019s true, he should be explaining his philosophy in his ads and on his campaign stops. It could win him votes with independents and some Republicans. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, voters are more likely to hear personal attacks than thoughtful explanations of why either candidate deserves support. Negative campaigning has become the norm in America, but voters should demand better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jack Gibson, North Dallas\u00a0<\/p>\n
People over party\u00a0<\/p>\n
I am confused. I always believed that I was voting for and electing someone to Congress to vote for his or her constituents, and not to follow what the party leader demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Then there is all this discussion about what to do with the two Democrats who voted for a Republican measure against the wishes of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.<\/p>\n
Who is anyone,\u00a0Jeffries or Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, to tell and require my elected representative or senator how to vote? If one person can do this, why have elections since those elected are no longer independent and have to vote as a party leader instructs?\u00a0<\/p>\n
As it now stands, no Republican is allowed to vote for anything put forth by a Democrat, and vice versa. If they do, there will be consequences. This is absurd.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Loyalty to a party over the people has got to stop. It is clear this is taking the country down a path of no return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ask for details\u00a0<\/p>\n
Politicians are generally adept at dodging questions or framing answers in a way that advisers and consultants have instructed them to respond. Sorry to say, but most politicians are very practiced in the art of providing vague or nuanced answers that weave a tangled web of nonsense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of my pet peeves is a lazy journalist who lets them off the hook during an interview. \u00a0A tough but fair journalist would not. \u00a0If the politician refuses to provide specifics, then the journalist should say or write, \u201cPlease note that [insert name] was either unable or unwilling to provide a detailed answer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, we constantly hear office seekers say in an interview, \u201cI\u2019m going to lower costs \u2014 affordability is my number one goal \u2014 we have to bring costs down.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone agrees that is a noble, lofty goal, but far too many journalists don\u2019t probe further and ask for specifics. It likely will annoy the politician when asked, \u201cCan you be specific? What\u2019s your plan? \u00a0Please elaborate.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The politician will probably begin tap dancing like Fred Astaire and start spinning while doing everything he or she can to avoid a detailed, substantive and cogent answer. That\u2019s an opportunity for a good journalist to shine. Yes, an interviewer must be respectful and not obnoxious, but their job is to ask probing questions, not to appease the politician. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n