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Tarrant County may close 92 polling places, Pentagon says no troops at polls

politicsAug 31, 202616281

Tarrant County commissioners will vote Tuesday on a proposal to close 92 polling places used in the 2022 election, a cut officials and advocates say would eliminate nearly a third of the county’s Election Day sites and disproportionately affect poorer and majority-Black and Latino neighborhoods. Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico urged the county to drop the plan, saying closures would lengthen travel and suppress turnout, while state Rep. Matt Shaheen called the accusation of partisan intent "silly" and said the move would save money. County Republicans previously voted 3-2 in 2025 to reduce polling locations by more than a third and cut funding for free bus rides to polls; an earlier proposal that would have shuttered nearly half the sites was tabled. An analysis of the current plan found the lowest-income third of ZIP codes would lose nearly 58 percent of their Election Day polling sites versus just under 22 percent for the highest-income third. Separately, Joint Chiefs Chair Charles C. Caine wrote that the military has "no plan to use personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material" and said he has neither received nor anticipates any unlawful order regarding military involvement in the November 2026 midterms. The county vote, if approved, would take effect weeks before the midterms and could force longer lines, greater travel for voters in affected neighborhoods, and intensified legal and political challenges ahead of November.

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