Texas Has a Close Senate Race. Naturally, Tarrant County Is Closing 92 Polling Places.

Texas has a competitive U.S. Senate race. And in Tarrant County, voters will have 92 fewer places to cast an Election Day ballot than they did in the last midterm.

On September 1, Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to approve 224 Election Day locations, down from 316 in 2022 — a reduction of about 29%. Early-voting locations are also dropping from 50 to 47.

Among the locations advocates unsuccessfully sought to restore was the Maverick Activities Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and County Commissioner Alisa Simmons held a press conference outside the former voting location before the vote, arguing that fewer locations could mean longer trips, longer lines and lower turnout.

The timing comes as Texas' Senate race has tightened. An August University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll found Talarico at 42% and Republican Ken Paxton at 39%. In June, the same poll had Paxton at 43% and Talarico at 42%. Both results were within the poll's margin of error.

Tarrant County itself is politically competitive. Donald Trump carried the county in 2024, but the Senate contest there was effectively tied: Ted Cruz received 48.86% in an election-night county report compared with Colin Allred's 48.83%.

County officials say the reductions aren't about politics. Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig said the plan considered accessibility and operational requirements, while Republican County Judge Tim O'Hare said the county will still have 54 more Election Day locations than Texas law requires.

There is no evidence establishing that the polling-place reductions were made because Talarico is competitive. But cutting nearly one-third of Election Day locations in a battleground county during a close statewide race is certainly worth paying attention to.