Tarrant County election results on Tuesday came with longer waits after Republicans cut Election Day polling places by 30%. Voters in Tarrant County stood in lines that stretched into the morning rush, and some did not cast ballots until later in the day.
Rainer Sigwald voted at Texas Christian University after the convenient location at his kids’ school was closed. He said, “I’m here because they closed the convenient voting location at my kids’ school that I voted at last year, because the Republican county-level folks don’t think that I should have a voice.”
Rainer Sigwald at Texas Christian University
Sigwald said he planned to vote before work on Tuesday, but the line was too long. He returned during the afternoon lull and said, “I can do that because I have a super flexible job, which is great. But not everybody has that kind of flexibility.”
He also said, “And I look forward to voting against them, as well as in other larger national races.” His comments came after he cast his ballot at the campus polling location, one of the places still open to voters in the county.
Tarrant County morning waits
During the morning rush, 18 polling locations had a one-hour wait and another eight had a wait closer to two hours, according to the Tarrant County elections website. That meant the cut in polling places landed on a county with 1.2 million voters, where small changes in access reached a very large electorate.
Tarrant County has become Texas’s major battleground county, and the county’s voting patterns have shifted over time. Republicans reduced the polling sites even as the website showed long waits at multiple locations on Tuesday.
Joel Umana votes first time
Joel Umana voted for the first time on Tuesday and said, “It’s a very complex climate right now.” He added, “I think there’s a lot of concerns about inflation and affordability,” and, “Being a broke college student, that matters a lot to me.”
Umana also said, “I have confidence in voting and thinks his vote will matter.” His vote added another first-time voice to a day when access, timing and location shaped how Tarrant County voters reached the ballot box.
