Tarrant County voters could lose 92 Election Day polling sites if commissioners approve a proposed map at their Tuesday, Sept. 1 meeting.

The plan from Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig would drop the county's Election Day locations from 316, the number used in the 2022 midterms, to 224. Three early voting sites would also be cut.

Democratic officials held a press conference Monday, Aug. 31, to oppose the plan. Commissioner Alisa Simmons and James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, spoke outside the University of Texas at Arlington's Mavericks Activity Center, itself a former voting location, the Fort Worth Report reported.

"Dropping 92 Election Day polling places is crazy," Simmons said. "We should not compare this proposal to the worst proposal. We should compare it to access that Tarrant County voters actually had in 2022."

Simmons said some of the zip codes with the highest poverty rates in Tarrant County stand to lose voting locations under the new map. She argued the cuts fall hardest on communities where residents have fewer transportation options and less flexibility in their workday. It is unclear how many of the 92 sites slated for removal are in northeast Tarrant.

Talarico told reporters the reductions could mean longer commutes, longer lines and lower turnout on Election Day.

Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. issued a separate press release on Sunday, Aug. 30, opposing the map. Miles said the county has not met its burden to justify making voting less accessible.

County Judge Tim O'Hare called the plan "sensible" in a press release. Ludwig told commissioners in an email that the 224-site map is based on which facilities best meet the needs of voters with disabilities and operational standards. At the August commissioners meeting, Ludwig said the map was made without input from any commissioner, after residents accused Republican commissioners of coordinating the cuts. All commissioners denied those accusations.

The vote caps a summer-long dispute. Commissioners unanimously delayed a vote on Aug. 4 after an earlier proposal would have slashed sites nearly in half, from 316 to 176. That deeper cut drew disapproval from all five commissioners.

Since then, commissioners have floated competing alternatives. Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez proposed keeping all 2022 locations eligible. Miles proposed increasing early voting sites to 60 and Election Day sites to 255. Ludwig's 224-site map is the compromise now before the court.

In an Aug. 8 news release, as the Fort Worth Report reported, Ramirez said political motives should have no place in deciding where citizens vote.

Simmons is challenging O'Hare for the county judge seat on the Nov. 3 ballot. That ballot also includes two commissioner seats and more than 70 partisan races at county, state and federal levels. Tarrant County is the third most populous county in Texas.

Early voting runs Oct. 19–30. The commissioners court meets Tuesday to decide.