Talarico Sounds Alarm as Texas Plans to Close Nearly 100 Polling Sites

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is sounding the alarm over potential voter suppression as Texas moves to shutter dozens of polling stations.

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court will vote Tuesday on a plan to reduce the county’s voting stations ahead of the midterm elections, the Associated Press reported. If approved, the key battleground county will scrap 92 polling stations just weeks ahead of the midterm elections.

Talarico, who is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, voiced his concerns about the plan at a news conference Sunday. “The most powerful people in this county, the most powerful people in this country, don’t want us to be able vote easily,” Talarico said.

Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig insisted that the reductions would focus on low-turnout polling sites. Voters would still have more than 200 locations where they can cast their votes.

“We’re clearly not trying to suppress the vote,” said State Representative Matt Shaheen, the Republican chairman of the House Elections Committee. “That’s a silly accusation.”

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and American Civil Liberties Union joined other voting rights groups to strongly condemn the proposal as a blatant “voter suppression tactic.”

“This proposal is a voter suppression tactic designed to impede Black voters and other voters of color from exercising their right to vote at the polls,” Demetria McCain, director of policy at the Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time Tarrant County officials have tried to gut the number of polling stations. In early August, they tabled plans to cut 140 sites amid overwhelming pushback.