Tarrant County voters will head to 92 fewer polling sites for the Nov. 3 midterm election after a Fort Worth judge denied a legal challenge to the reductions on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The ruling means voters in Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Westlake will use a smaller set of polling locations when early voting opens Monday, Oct. 19.
Judge J. Patrick Gallagher of the 96th District Court rejected a temporary injunction that would have restored the eliminated sites before Election Day. The ruling, first reported by the Fort Worth Report, locks in 224 Election Day locations and 47 early voting sites. Tarrant County has roughly 1.3 million registered voters, according to testimony from elections administrator Clint Ludwig.
That is down from 316 Election Day sites and 50 early voting locations used in the 2022 midterms.
Gallagher heard more than four hours of testimony before denying the injunction. He did not explain his decision.
Four plaintiffs filed the lawsuit: Fort Worth City Council member Deborah Peoples, Fort Worth ISD Board of Trustees member Camille Rodriguez, and former Fort Worth council members Kathleen Hicks and Maryellen Hicks.
They sued Tarrant County, Ludwig and the Republican commissioners who approved the reduced site list on Sept. 1. The plaintiffs alleged the cuts disproportionately burden voters in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods and low-income ZIP codes, where residents are more likely to work long hours and may lack reliable transportation.
Ludwig testified that reinstating the 92 sites would disrupt the election because staff could not reprogram and publicly test voting machines before early voting begins. He said he did not consider whether the reductions would disproportionately affect voters of color because voter registration data does not track racial demographics. He also testified that he did not solicit feedback from minority communities or organizations before proposing the cuts.
Ludwig acknowledged the reduction saved money but said his office did not explore other cost-saving measures first.
Plaintiffs' attorney Susan Hutchison argued at the hearing that county officials initially considered eliminating 140 sites before restoring 48 after public pushback, according to NBC DFW. Assistant district attorney Stephen Lund urged the court to dismiss the case entirely. "This case has all kinds of jurisdictional problems," Lund said.
Gallagher did not dismiss the lawsuit. The underlying racial-discrimination claim remains active, though no next court date has been announced.
Where NE Tarrant residents vote
Early voting runs Oct. 19–30. Local early voting sites, listed as preliminary and subject to change by the county, include Southlake Town Hall (1400 Main Street), the Town of Westlake Fire-EMS Department (2000 W Dove Road), Colleyville Recreation Center Annex A (5008 Roberts Road) and Grapevine Public Library (1201 Municipal Way), according to the Tarrant County election order.
Election Day sites in Southlake include Countryside Bible Church, Southlake Town Hall and St. Martin in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. Grapevine has five Election Day sites: First Presbyterian Church Grapevine, Grapevine Elementary School, Grapevine Middle School, Grapevine Public Library and Mariella of Grapevine. Colleyville voters can cast ballots at Bransford Elementary School, Colleyville Recreation Center and Liberty Elementary School, according to the county's general election notice.
Voters should confirm their polling location through the Tarrant County elections office before heading to the polls.
