Fort Worth, Texas: Tarrant County Voters Face Waits Over Two Hours and Early Machine Trouble on Election Day

Tarrant County voters faced some of the longest Election Day waits in Texas on Tuesday, with the county's official polling location wait time tracker showing estimated waits of more than two hours at multiple locations, including the Tarrant County Sub-Courthouse in Arlington at 700 E. Abram St.

Earlier on Tuesday, the tracker listed a 120 minute estimated wait at the Betsy Price Community Center in Fort Worth, where reports indicated voting machines were down as of 7:20 a.m. The estimated wait at that location has since dropped to 30 minutes, USA Today reported in its Election Day live coverage.

A long day at fewer polling places

Tarrant County is voting on Tuesday with far fewer Election Day sites than it had in the last midterms. In September, the county Commissioners Court voted 3 to 2 to cut Election Day polling locations from 316 in 2022 to 224 this year. The court's three Republicans backed the cuts and its two Democrats opposed them.

Advocates warned for weeks that fewer sites would mean longer lines. ABC News reported that community and advocacy groups rallied voters after the cuts, that the Tarrant County Fort Worth chapter of the NAACP launched a campaign to tell voters which sites had closed, and that local groups partnered with Trinity Metro to offer free roundtrip bus rides to polling places. ABC News also reported that WFAA in Dallas found voters waiting in long lines for hours during early voting.

Early voting was heavy. Particle News reported that Tarrant County recorded 571,950 in person early votes between October 19 and October 30, a 47 percent jump from 2022.

What voters can still do on Tuesday

Polls in Tarrant County are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, and on Election Day a registered voter in the county can cast a ballot at any open polling place in the county. Voters can check the county wait time tracker before they travel and pick a site with a shorter line. The League of Women Voters of Tarrant County advised voters during early voting to bring water, wear comfortable shoes and block out plenty of time to vote.

Tarrant County is the third most populous county in Texas, with Fort Worth as its county seat. It is also a closely watched battleground in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, which makes turnout and voting access in the county significant statewide. No official had announced an extension of voting hours in Tarrant County in the reports published by early Tuesday afternoon.