Tarrant County, Texas Commission Votes to Keep Early Voting Locations on College Campuses Open

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On September 12, 2024, an emergency meeting was held to determine the fate of the early voting locations on college campuses. The 4.5 hour emergency meeting resulted in a 4-1 vote in favor of keeping all early voting locations on college campuses, and adding an additional location at the Junior League. Tarrant County will now have 51 early voting sites open.

LDF Attorney Christina Das testified at the emergency hearing to advocate for keeping the early voting locations on college campuses. Over 120 people signed up to give compelling testimony against the removal of Early Voting locations on college campuses, ranging from student leaders, professors, voters with disabilities, and senior voters.

View the testimony here.

On September 10, 2024, LDF and a coalition of non-partisan community and voting rights organizations sent a letterurging the Tarrant County Texas Commissioner's Court and Elections Administrator to keep in place the early voting locations on college campuses from 2020 and add an additional site at Texas Christian University for the 2024 election.

The letter expresses deep concern about proposed rejection of college campuses as early voting polling locations across Tarrant County. The proposed poll closures could impact more than 60,000 voters. The closures would be particularly harmful to Tarrant County's Black and Latine voters because many of the locations serve Black and Latine communities. For Tarrant County to reject early voting sites on college campuses would certainly appear to be a deliberate tactic to limit student participation in the voting process, especially given the student populations at these universities.

To ensure that all voters will have equitable and safe access to advance voting - and ensure that Tarrant County complies with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as well as the U.S. Constitution and other laws protecting the right to vote - the coalition urges the to maintain the early voting locations at college campuses for the upcoming General Election.

Read the full letter here.