Tarrant County judge wants to close college campus voting locations in heavy minority populations
FORT WORTH, Texas - Multiple Tarrant County college campus voting locations are on the chopping block to be closed.
It comes after commissioners could not agree on the early voting locations last week.
Republican Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare called a special meeting Thursday while the two Democrats on the court are out of town.
O’Hare claims the college locations are too close to other polling sites and called it a waste of money.
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With early voting for the 2024 U.S. presidential election just around the corner, Tarrant County commissioners are divided on the use of certain early voting locations.
Some students at UT Arlington said closing college locations is a form of voter suppression.
College students met at UT Arlington to speak against a plan to eliminate early voting locations on some college campuses.
"They see our power, energy and momentum," said Emory Calloway with the Tarrant County Young Democrats. "That’s what they don’t want and are afraid of."
"Targeting the youth vote is a direct acknowledgment that we are driving this election. We are hungrier and more determined to have a future and country we believe in," said Kayla Rabb, a TCU grad student and Texas NAACP member.
Last week, commissioners failed to move on a list of 50 sites. The vote was tied 2-2 with the election administrator telling commissioners he could use even more sites.
O’Hare is now calling a special meeting for Thursday, a day when the two Democrat commissioners, Roy Brooks and Alisa Simmons, are out of town.
The political overtone is not lost on Star-Telegram Columnist Bud Kennedy.
"They filed papers a month ago saying they'd be out of town," he said. "So it just happens that he scheduled a special meeting on the day that the two Democrats would be out of town to choose polling places for the general election."
O’Hare said polling sites on some college campuses were too close to other sites, calling it a waste of money and resources.
The county's budget is $4 million, but it's not clear how much O'Hare expects to save.
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One proposal is to eliminate the UT Arlington, Tarrant County College South Campus and Southwestern Baptist Seminary locations. About 17,580 people voted early at those sites in 2020.
O'Hare argues, for example, the UTA location is just under a mile from another voting site at the Tarrant County Subcourthouse.
Commissioner Simmons said last week it would take a student about 18 minutes to walk to the other location, stand in line and walk 18 minutes back.
The TCC location is about 1.5 miles away from a voting site at the Forest Hill Civic Center across I-20.
The seminary has the shortest distance at .3 miles from the James Avenue Service Center voting site.
State Rep. Chris Turner's district includes UT Arlington. He says the college campus locations have a heavy minority population represented by the Democrat commissioners who will be in D.C.
"It’s turned into something that is hard to explain unless you make the assumption that some people in leadership make it harder to vote," he said.
Initially, O’Hare had concerns with the TCU polling location as well, but it is not on the list of proposed cuts.
"TCU is also a more conservative campus, and they probably feel like there are more Republicans voting there," Kennedy said. "Frankly, it hasn't become a Democratic rallying point the way you UT Arlington and Tarrant County College have."
Early voting in Texas starts October 21.
Tarrant County has to notify the voting locations at least 21 days before the election.