During the 2024 presidential election, UT Arlington student Lan Le and five friends made plans in a group chat to vote on campus at the Maverick Activities Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Le, a psychology and medical laboratory science senior, did not vote there but accompanied her friends to make the wait more fun. The location\u2019s proximity \u2014 a five- to 15-minute walk from campus \u2014 helped convince friends who were not especially engaged in politics to vote, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That convenience no longer exists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tarrant County offered shifting explanations for leaving the MAC off early voting and Nov. 3 polling site lists: first citing equipment security, then the university\u2019s availability and proximity to another polling place. Records obtained by the Fort Worth Report show UTA worked with election staff and offered alternative voting locations, but the university was eventually left off the list of locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The decision has left students and voter registration volunteers worried that a trip off campus will keep some people from voting, especially students living on campus without cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just very disappointed and frustrated when I found that out, and I was kind of astounded that they could make that decision,\u201d Le said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The MAC has been a voting site since the 2012 presidential election<\/a>, when county records show 3,366 early ballots were cast<\/a>. More than 8,000 early votes were cast there during the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n In 2022, the MAC recorded fewer early ballots than any other early voting site in Arlington.<\/p>\n Carol Raburn, a UTA alumna and local activist, first voted at the MAC in 2021. Since then, she has worked with volunteers to register voters on campus.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of alumni (vote at the MAC) because it\u2019s fun for us to get back on campus, and we like to go see everything,\u201d Raburn said. \u201cWe demonstrate to kids that voting is important.\u201d<\/p>\n Arlington City Council member Jason Shelton, a UTA sociology professor and the Center for African American Studies director, emphasized the location\u2019s importance to more voters than students.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s that local surrounding community that has used the university as a place to cast their vote in local and national elections,\u201d Shelton said.<\/p>\n In 2024, commissioners considered four early voting maps, including a proposal that would have excluded UTA and other college locations. They eventually voted 4-1 to retain all college early voting sites<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare, the lone dissenter, questioned the cost of operating UTA\u2019s site about a mile from the Tarrant County Subcourthouse in Arlington. Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig said both locations were heavily used.<\/p>\n The MAC was absent from the 2025 constitutional amendments election early voting list<\/a>. Raburn said she has since tried to restore the campus site.<\/p>\n The site was also absent from the early voting lists for the March primaries<\/a> and May elections<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n UTA offered the space. The county did not select it<\/p>\n County staff cited equipment security<\/a> as a reason to exclude UTA\u2019s early voting site in 2025, saying it could not easily meet a new requirement<\/a> to store voting equipment in a locked room.\u00a0<\/p>\n The concern resurfaced in July, when an internal county list obtained by the Report<\/a> cited the storage requirement as a reason the MAC could not be used.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an email statement, UTA spokesperson Jeff Caplan told the Report the university\u2019s voting location is secure and can meet all state and county requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe university was not selected to serve as a polling site for this election cycle, but as with past elections, UTA will serve as a polling site if requested in the future,\u201d Caplan said.<\/p>\n On Aug. 4, Ludwig proposed 176 Election Day sites and 42 early voting sites, down from 316 and 50 during the 2022 election. He said staff considered site usage and distance. Commissioners delayed the decision until Sept. 1.<\/p>\n During that September meeting, Ludwig told commissioners that UTA and Texas Christian University officials said they could not provide facilities for 12 days of early voting. Elections staff asked UTA to move voting from the MAC to another campus location, but university leaders declined, Ludwig said.<\/p>\n Records show university leaders and the county had further discussion about picking UTA as a location.<\/p>\n County elections staff, including Ludwig, toured the MAC on Aug. 13, according to an email to Commissioner Alisa Simmons\u2019 office from Dax Kuykendall, UTA\u2019s director of campus recreation. Simmons\u2019 precinct covers the university.<\/p>\n Kuykendall wrote Aug. 24 to Simmons\u2019 office that election staff identified a solution for both voting periods during the walk-through.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have yet to hear back about how they wish to proceed, but we are happy to accommodate early voting and day of voting at the MAC,\u201d Kuykendall wrote. \u201cI believe the decision is now with the Election Board.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuykendall emailed Ludwig directly on Aug. 29, confirming that MAC was available for both voting periods. He also offered the fitness studio they had toured for early voting and either the studio or main lobby for Election Day. Roberts forwarded the offer to Simmons and county staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n The released emails contain no reply from Ludwig, who did not respond to the Report\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n At an Aug. 30 news conference outside the MAC, Simmons and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico called for commissioners to reject the proposed cuts. Simmons emphasized the campus site\u2019s value to nearby residents given the city\u2019s lack of a mass public transit system.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the perfect place for both early and Election Day, and we have the numbers,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n Simmons moved to restore UTA, UNT Health Fort Worth and Tarrant County College\u2019s Northeast and South campuses to the early voting list Sept. 1. The three Republican commissioners rejected the motion.<\/p>\n Commissioners approved 224 Election Day sites and 47 early voting locations in 3-2 votes along party lines. The MAC remained off both lists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shelton disputed the idea that UTA lacked a secure space that could comply with state law, saying it could lock up the machines outside voting hours.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just not true,\u201d Shelton told the Report.<\/p>\n What a longer trip may mean<\/p>\n Seven Arlington City Council members voted Sept. 29 to ask commissioners to restore UTA\u2019s polling location<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shelton said a November return was unlikely but hoped the site would reopen for the May elections.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare and Simmons\u2019 spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment about the council\u2019s resolution.<\/p>\n Early voting is Oct. 19-30. The Arlington subcourthouse, at 700 E. Abram St., is available for both voting periods. The resolution also reaffirmed free Arlington On-Demand rides during early voting and Election Day.<\/p>\n To use the city\u2019s rideshare service for free, input these codes on the days noted:<\/p>\n Early voting, Oct. 19-Oct. 30: Use promo code \u201cOCT26VOTE\u201d when booking on either service for a free round trip to\/from the approved early voting locations in Arlington.<\/p>\n Election Day, Nov. 3: Use promo code \u201cNOV26VOTE\u201d when booking on either service for a free round trip to\/from the approved Election Day voting locations in Arlington.<\/p>\n Le said walking to the subcourthouse from some campus housing could take 30 minutes. She also worries about students with disabilities who may struggle to make the trip.<\/p>\n Voting rights litigator Yael Bromberg wrote this spring<\/a> that lawmakers nationwide have sought to eliminate or restrict campus polling sites, often citing costs and administrative burden.<\/p>\n Bromberg\u2019s analysis of 2018 voting at 59 campuses, using data from the nonpartisan National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, linked campus polling sites to higher student turnout.<\/p>\n Raburn, who has served as the election judge at the subcourthouse, recalled hourlong waits during the May primary election. Long lines discourage people from voting, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat pushes a lot of would-be voters. Either they don\u2019t vote, or they go vote and have to stay in a long line all Election Day,\u201d Raburn said. \u201cIt\u2019s discouraging, which is suppressing the votes.\u201d<\/p>\n UTA interior design sophomore Morgan Berringer said a campus polling place would help younger voters have a say alongside older generations as the world changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe deserve to be heard,\u201d Berringer said.<\/p>\n Le, who helps register young voters, plans to research nonprofits that provide transportation and looks to share polling and transportation information with students. She had not yet arranged rides for Election Day but said she might.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, some students are reluctant even to register because they feel their voices do not matter in politics, Le said, and losing a convenient polling place may deepen that hesitancy.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving our campus polling location removed confirms that notion for a lot of people,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Government accountability reporter Cecilia Lenzen contributed reporting to this story.<\/p>\n Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dang Le is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.<\/p>\n The Report\u2019s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Fort Worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n