Vote tabled after public kicked out of meeting on reduction in midterm polling locations

Дата публикации: 04-08-2026 06:18:09

Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare kicked the public out of a commissioners court meeting and had a former state lawmaker arrested on Tuesday after the crowd erupted into jeers and began chanting “shame” as the commissioners discussed reducing the number of polling locations open during the November 2026 midterm election.
The proposal, listed on the Aug. 4 Tarrant County Commissioners Court agenda, would cut the number of Election Day voting locations from 316 sites used during the 2022 midterm election to 176 sites this year. If approved, the change would eliminate 140 polling places, a reduction of about 44%.
Commissioners will also consider a plan to reduce the number of early voting locations from 50 sites used during the 2022 midterms to 42 for the 2026 election.
The issues were expected to be among several election-related items discussed during Tuesday’s 10 a.m. meeting. The proposals sparked debate among county leaders and voting-rights advocates and drew dozens of people to witness the meeting in person.
Opponents in the crowd erupted as the court discussed cutting the number of polling locations. O’Hare quieted the crowd a few times before ordering the public to be kicked out of the chambers to an overflow area. Speakers were allowed in one by one and were allowed to stay after their comments.
Later, O’Hare demanded that former state lawmaker Lon Burnam be removed. Burnman picked up the microphone while speaking, which is a violation of court decorum rules. He was arrested on a charge of disrupting a meeting or procession.
Commissioners decided to table the vote and will come up with another list before the next discussion.
A vote on the proposals is expected sometime Tuesday afternoon.
Last year, the Republican majority on the Commissioners Court approved a reduction of more than 100 Election Day polling locations for a nonpresidential election, arguing that lower-turnout elections require fewer voting sites and that consolidating locations can reduce costs.
But Democratic commissioners opposed those cuts, arguing that reducing polling sites could limit access to voting and disproportionately affect communities that already face barriers to participating in elections.
State Sen. Taylor Rehmet of District 9 posted this statement to social media the day before the meeting.
State Rep. James Talarico, who is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, released a statement Tuesday evening saying:
“Sixty-one years ago this week, the Voting Rights Act guaranteed every American could vote without fear of discrimination — a fight for which generations of Black Americans marched, bled, and died to win.
Today, immense public pressure forced Tarrant County officials to table their plan to close nearly half their polling places — 140 in all. This is a victory for people power — when Texans stand together and raise our voices, politicians are forced to listen.
But our fight is not over: there will be another vote next month, and if it succeeds, Tarrant County voters will experience longer commutes, longer lines, and lower turnout, especially in Black and brown communities.
They wouldn’t be trying so hard to stop us from voting if our votes weren’t powerful. We need to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and stop these voter suppression efforts across the country.”
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, who is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, is expected to speak about the proposal during a Tuesday morning press conference and later attend the Commissioners Court meeting.
In an opinion piece published Monday by Progress Texas, Goodwin characterized the proposal as part of a broader fight over voting access in Texas.
“Tarrant County is the latest battlefront in a long history of voter suppression in this state,” Goodwin wrote. “Throughout the state, I’m hearing from Texans that they don’t trust their political leaders to look out for them. Trust is broken over time, and local governments have an opportunity to rebuild that trust by preserving and expanding their voting locations before the midterms.”
More than 1.3 million voters are registered in Tarrant County. The November ballot is expected to include more than 70 county, state and federal partisan races, along with nonpartisan elections for seats on the Tarrant Appraisal District board and the Keller Independent School District board of trustees.
Early voting is scheduled for Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. The deadline to register to vote for the November election is Oct. 5.
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