A state district judge on Tuesday refused to order Tarrant County to bring back 92 Election Day polling places that commissioners cut for the Nov. 3 midterm, leaving the county's reduced voting plan in place six days before early voting starts.
Judge Patrick Gallagher of the 96th District Court denied the temporary injunction sought by a group of residents that includes Fort Worth City Council member Deborah Peoples, NBC 5 and CBS News Texas reported. The reports did not detail the judge's reasoning or say whether the plaintiffs plan to appeal.
The plan being challenged
Commissioners approved the revised voting plan last month on a 3-2 party-line vote. It cuts Election Day sites from the 316 the county used in the 2022 midterm to 224. The suit names County Judge Tim O'Hare, the two Republican commissioners who voted for the cuts and Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig.
What each side argued
At Tuesday's hearing, attorneys for the plaintiffs said the closures were not spread evenly. They told the court the county first considered dropping 140 sites and restored 48 after public pushback, and that the remaining cuts land hardest on Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, some of which lost several polling places.
"This is not a coincidence; this is a pattern that repeats across the county," attorney Susan Hutchison said in her opening statement, according to NBC 5. The plaintiffs said they were not asking to delay the election and that there was still time to reopen sites with the required public notice.
