FORT WORTH — Roxana Aguirre, Fort Worth resident and educator, teared up as the room around her erupted in applause.
After around four hours of discussion and nearly 160 speakers in open forum, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved a list of 51 early voting sites — including those at UTA and several other colleges — for the November presidential election at Thursday’s meeting. The measure passed 4-1, with County Judge Tim O’Hare in opposition.
“As an educator, I just feel that seeing college-age students come out and exercise your democratic right to let your elected officials know that you are against something they are proposing is beautiful to see,” Aguirre said.
Adding to the uncertainty of the proceedings was the in-person absence of Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roy Brooks, who have been vocal about the need for more early voting sites. The two were in Washington D.C. for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Conference.
Many among those who spoke to the commissioners had criticized the court for proceeding without them.
The two voted remotely on the measure.
Simmons thanked the citizens and students for their engagement in local governance.
“Those young people, this is what it's about,” she said. “Thank you for coming over, and thank you to your professors and advisers for allowing you to come over and participate in your local government right here in your footprint.”
O’Hare said the idea behind having multiple voting locations is to be equally spread out and accessible to all. Having locations less than a mile apart makes no sense, he said, because voting sites in some communities are 10 to 15 miles apart.
“You don't win them all,” O’Hare said after the meeting. “I stood up for what I believed in and the rest of the court did not agree with the way I saw it.”
Among those speaking at the meeting, including groups of advocates, elected officials, UTA students and staff, most pleaded to keep the university sites, saying any attempt to remove voting locations was an act of voter suppression.
“A voteless people is a hopeless people,” said Relius Johnson, New Maverick Orientation director.
College campuses are a microcosm of society because of the diverse student populations, and UTA is located around thriving areas where people vote, Johnson said. Having a polling site on campus allows everyone in the community to have their voice heard.
Democracy begins on college campuses, and young people are changing this nation, environmental science senior Rogelio Meixueiro said.
Tarrant County is paving the way for change in Texas, Meixueiro said, and while he’s happy with UTA’s energy to keep the site on campus, he believes the work is not done until after Election Day.
“I think now our duty is ensuring that hundreds of students in our university and all across the county make their voice heard, and hey, we’re paving the way,” he said.
Everyone should have their votes and voices heard, said Taylor Tracy, first vice president for UTA’s NAACP chapter, after the meeting. The nonpartisan organization attended the meeting to ensure it was educating and advocating for students while empowering people.
“We just want everybody to have the ability to be able to vote,” Tracy said.
During the Sept. 4 meeting, the Commissioners Court failed to approve a list of 50 early voting locations, 2-2, for the second time within two years, with Commissioner Manny Ramirez absent from the vote. The Maverick Activities Center was an active voting location but was unavailable for early voting during the 2023 November constitutional amendment election. However, it was open for the primary election in March.
The 4-1 vote Thursday approved the original list and added the Vietnamese American Community Home in Dalworthington Gardens.
“I think that we have to have more objective criteria and we have to have better reasoning whenever we’re selecting sites, but again, reducing the number is not a priority,” Ramirez said at the meeting before voting to approve the list.
O’Hare is not against having intentional polling locations, but the current list of voting sites with some locations within almost a mile from one another would be a waste of money, he said.
Three other voting site drafts were proposed with fewer locations, and O’Hare said he would have supported any of those along with the newly added location.
Early presidential voting at UTA began as early as 2000, according to previous Shorthorn reporting. This year, citizens can register to vote until Oct. 7, with early voting running from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1.
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