Fort Worth resident Cecil Wilson typically votes early in local elections. That was her plan this year when she went to her usual polling location in the Historic Southside.
But when she arrived at the Southside Community Center last month, she couldn鈥檛 cast a ballot as the center was no longer a polling location for early voting, she said. Rather than seek a new location, Wilson returned to the center first thing in the morning on Election Day to cast a ballot.
The 80-year-old is among almost 1.3 million registered voters across Tarrant County, many of whom found their usual early voting locations shuttered as a result of Tarrant County commissioners鈥� .
But despite the reduction, Tuesday鈥檚 election saw considerably higher voter turnout compared to previous odd-year elections, with a little more than 17% of registered voters casting ballots. Statewide, 16% of registered voters participated in the election.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 seeing, especially maybe with the government shutdown and stuff, that maybe it鈥檚 important to show up,鈥� said Janet Mattern, president of the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County, a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to increasing voter participation.
Odd-year elections, such as Tuesday鈥檚, typically see low turnout compared to presidential and midterm elections. The past three odd-year elections saw an average of 11.9% of registered Tarrant County voters participate.
In August, county commissioners used an expected low turnout as a reason to and nine early voting locations. County Judge Tim O鈥橦are argued then that the reduction was to save $1 million on what would be an election most didn鈥檛 know about.
鈥淚 would venture to guess 99% of the public cannot name a single thing on (the 2025 ballot),鈥� O鈥橦are said at the time. The move was criticized by Democratic commissioners and some residents, who said it amounted to voter suppression targeting minorities in the city鈥檚 urban core.
Republican County Commissioner Matt Krause said he 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� stands by his vote to reduce the number of polling sites, especially after seeing the high voter turnout. He said he鈥檚 鈥渨illing to listen to that feedback鈥� if any voters were unable to cast ballots because of the reduction but, as of Wednesday, his office had not recorded any such complaints.
鈥淚t only reinforces that those votes (to reduce) those polling sites 鈥� was good for the county because it saved money, but it also allowed everybody who wanted to vote to vote,鈥� Krause said Wednesday.
Next year鈥檚 elections will include multiple statewide and countywide seats, including governor and U.S. Senate plus the county judge. Krause said he anticipates the county approving a list of voting sites that includes more locations than this year鈥檚 election, but probably fewer than previous elections with statewide offices on the ballot.
Neither O鈥橦are nor Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez, who supported the reduction in polling places, returned requests for comment on voter turnout Wednesday.
Tuesday included a , which covers much of Tarrant County, at the top of the ballot, above .
A little over half of the Tarrant County participants in this election cast ballots for the three Senate candidates: Fort Worth Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Southlake Republicans John Huffman and Leigh Wambsganss. Rehmet and Wambsganss are heading to a runoff election in January.
Mattern said she was 鈥渟hocked鈥� to see as many people as she did lining up to vote at the Southwest Subcourthouse where she was working the polls. Other polling locations, such as North Richland Hills Library, saw lines with over an hour wait time.
鈥淲hen you have fewer poll locations, people tend to go to the places where they know that there will be a poll location,鈥� Mattern said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 go to the obscure areas because they don鈥檛 want to drive all day to try to find places.鈥�
Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said the unusually high voter turnout was the result of grassroots organizing from various political groups including her party, the Tarrant County Young Democrats, political action committees, the Texas Democratic Party and other counties鈥� party chapters.
鈥淥bviously, the work paid off,鈥� Campolo said Wednesday morning.
Despite 鈥減leasantly surprising鈥� voter engagement, Campolo maintains that county commissioners 鈥渨ithout a question鈥� disenfranchised voters by reducing early voting sites.
She said the Democratic Party fielded countless calls throughout early voting and on Election Day from voters who realized their usual polling location wasn鈥檛 available.
鈥淐ynically, my only hope is that the Republicans see how badly their candidates did yesterday and realize that closing polling locations is not good for them either,鈥� Campolo said. 鈥淚t did not result in a good political outcome for them.鈥�
Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French did not return a request for comment. On election night and throughout the day Nov. 5, he posted several times on social media about the New York City mayoral election that resulted in the city鈥檚 first Muslim mayor but did not post directly about Tarrant County election results.
Krause believes the 鈥渧ery heated and expensive鈥� state Senate race 鈥済ot the attention and got people excited and enthusiastic,鈥� which led to high voter turnout.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the voter turnout and voting sites necessarily had any correlation to each other,鈥� Krause said.
Like Wilson, Fort Worth resident Kerry Thomas cast a ballot at the Southside Community Center the morning of Election Day. The 63-year-old said he usually votes early but didn鈥檛 get a chance this year, so cutting the center as an early voting site didn鈥檛 impact his voting experience.
Nothing would have stopped him from casting a ballot, he said, stressing the importance of voting.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a crucial time around the world, and a lot of things are going on in Texas. A lot of things (are) going on in Tarrant County,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淪ome are good, some are bad, some are bullies, and some are not.鈥�
Fort Worth resident Alan Brown, 41, said the reduction in polling sites didn鈥檛 impact his voting experience after casting a ballot at the Riverside Community Center, where he typically votes in his neighborhood. Still, he said, he was aware of the reduction and made sure to encourage others to double-check their polling site and make a plan to vote.
鈥淲hen I was younger, I didn鈥檛 vote as regularly,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淚 was probably a little more vocal with the younger people I know to make sure to push them, 鈥楬ey, go figure out where you need to go and go do it.鈥欌��
Voter participation was particularly higher in northeast Tarrant County, which hosted a disproportionate number of early voting locations compared to other quadrants. The area is home to Southlake, a suburb where both Republican Texas Senate candidates are residents.
Mattern guessed the Senate race was a driver of increased turnout in the north. But ultimately, she suspects most people came for the constitutional amendments, all of which passed.
鈥淭hey would not be deterred,鈥� she said, recalling long voting lines across the county on Election Day. 鈥溾�楴o, we will not leave this line. We will not go to another poll location. We are going to vote because it鈥檚 important.鈥� That鈥檚 what I kept hearing.鈥�
Keller resident Carson West, 67, said changing voter demographics could impact voter turnout and results in Tarrant County. He noted that older residents like himself typically vote conservative, while younger residents and people moving to Texas from liberal states like California generally tend to vote less conservative.
鈥淚f older people die (and) newer people move in that have liberal tendencies, it could turn purple or blue in the next 10 years, easily,鈥� West said, standing outside the Keller Town Hall after voting Nov. 4.
To him, a blue Tarrant County would be 鈥渉orrible.鈥� West said he expects shifting from a red to blue political makeup would lead to detrimental long-term impacts, such as higher property taxes, while there probably wouldn鈥檛 be much short-term change.
To Keller resident Arisha Morris, 64, a blue shift would lead to needed change in Tarrant County, though she鈥檚 not confident the county will see that shift any time soon.
鈥淚 have to say it鈥檚 stuck red 鈥� because this is Texas,鈥� Morris said after voting at the Keller Town Hall on Election Day. 鈥淚t would have to take a lot more people that have a mindset like I do.鈥�
Morris said she has voted in all local elections since about 2016, when she started 鈥減aying attention to what鈥檚 been going on in the world.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.
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