Tarrant County officials to vote on drastic reduction of early voting and election day sites
Tarrant Co discusses plans to close 100 voting sites
Tarrant County Commissioners are discussing plans to close down more than 100 Election Day voting sites.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas - On Tuesday, Tarrant County commissioners will consider slashing the number of election days and early voting locations.
Opponents are trying to rally the opposition ahead of the vote.
Local perspective:
FOX 4 reached out to all the Tarrant County commissioners to see if they wanted to make any comments ahead of tomorrow's meeting.
The agenda came out on Friday as some say they are still reviewing the proposal.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons tells FOX 4’s Peyton Yager that she's been working all weekend to get this specific agenda item postponed, but she says she has been met with pushback.
"How? Where? Why? How the election administrators got to this point," said Commissioner Simmons.
Just some of the questions Democrat Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons is preparing to bring to Tuesday's Commissioner's Court Meeting.
What we know:
On the agenda is a plan to reduce the number of early voting locations by half and slash more than 100 election day voting locations for the upcoming off-year election in November.
If passed, the number of early voting locations would go from 51 to 24.
Election day locations would be 214 compared to last year's 349.
What they're saying:
"The contrast is stark. This is evidence of voter suppression. This tactic is in the form of impeding and limiting access to the ballot box," said Simmons.
Commissioner Simmons told FOX 4 on Monday that she hasn't received a clear reason for the drastic drop.
Democrat Precinct One Commissioner Roderick Miles stated on Monday, "I stand firmly against any actions, policies, or proposals that even resemble voter suppression."
Republican Precinct Four Commissioner Manny Ramirez also told FOX 4 that he has several concerns and is looking forward to hearing the elections administrator's rationale or formula for the proposal.
Dig deeper:
Last September, an effort to eliminate early voting sites at several college campuses failed in a 4 to 1 vote at a Special Commissioner Court Meeting.
Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare was the lone voter in favor of arguing the college locations were too close to other polling sites, and it was a waste of money.
The proposal was nixed following a four-hour fiery public comment.
Commissioner Simmons is expecting the same turnout on Tuesday.
"This will cause so much voter confusion. People have grown accustomed to voting at the places they live near or work near," said Simmons.
What's next:
Neither Republican Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare's office nor Republican Commissioner Matt Krause responded to FOX 4's request for comment on Monday.
Commissioners' court meets on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
This is still on the agenda and people can sign up for public comment.
The Source: Information in this article was provided from interviews and public comment obtained by FOX 4's Peyton Yager.