At least 12,674 Dallas County voters trying to cast ballots in both party primaries showed up at the wrong polling locations March 3 after the county GOP forced the elimination of countywide polling sites on election day, county data shows.
Democrats had more than double the number of primary voters in Dallas County as Republicans so, unsurprisingly, a larger number of Democratic voters had to be redirected to the correct site, according to a Votebeat analysis of data provided by Dallas County election officials. But similar percentages of voters from both parties were affected by the change.
Out of the total voter turnout on election day, at least 6,641 voters, or 7.7%, seeking to cast ballots in the Democratic primary, and 2,369 voters, or 6.4%, seeking to cast ballots in the Republican primary, went to the wrong voting site. Those voters subsequently received texts from county representatives stationed at polling sites to redirect voters to the correct places, according to the county data, which was obtained by Votebeat via a public records request.
Those numbers don’t reflect the full number of affected voters, either. The county couldn’t determine a party for at least 3,638 additional voters who also received texts because they were redirected to voting locations used by both parties, county officials said. And for 26 other voters in the data, the county had no information. Poll workers also redirected other voters who chose not to receive texts and aren’t reflected in the data, according to Paul Adams, the Dallas County elections administrator.
Allen West, the chairman of the Dallas Republican party, had suggested in a statement on March 4 that the change had affected Democratic voters more than Republican ones.
“Yesterday Republican voters in Dallas County evidenced their ability to adapt and overcome proving that precinct level voting can be accomplished on primary Election Day,” West said in a statement the party posted on social media. “It’s apparent that Democrats struggled with grasping basic civics.”
West, who declined to comment on Votebeat’s findings for this story, has since said Republicans will agree to use countywide voting sites for the upcoming May 26 runoff election, citing the potential for confusion. It’s not clear whether West has signed a contract with the Dallas County Elections Department to make the move official. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kardal Coleman, the Dallas County Democratic Party Chair said the new findings were not surprising. “In every conversation we said that this type of irresponsible pursuit was going to result in disenfranchisement of all voters, not just Democratic voters, and the data speaks just to that,” Coleman said.
Change to precinct voting sites created confusion for Dallas County voters
Dallas County Republicans decided to ditch the state’s countywide polling place program, which allows voters to cast their ballot at any polling location in the county. Because both parties have to agree to use countywide sites, this forced voters from both parties to cast ballots at assigned precincts.
Dallas County officials said they spent $1 million to notify voters of the change, but it nevertheless created chaos and confusion on election day.
Republicans in Eastland County, west of Fort Worth, and Williamson County, north of Austin, made similar decisions to switch to precincts, which also led to voter confusion. Republicans in Williamson County have now also said they’ll return to countywide voting for the runoff election. Eastland County Republicans have yet to make a decision, according to county election officials
The Dallas County Elections Department in collaboration with the county’s League of Women Voters, dispatched volunteers across the county’s polling sites on election day to assist voters who needed help identifying their correct polling location.
Dallas County has used the countywide program for years and the two major parties had held joint primary elections since 2022, sharing polling locations, voting equipment and poll workers.
Although West has agreed to use countywide voting sites for the runoff election in May, he said the parties still won’t share poll workers and voting equipment — so runoff voters will likely still see separate lines for Republicans and Democrats. Coleman said that for his part, he’s ready to sign an agreement for a joint runoff election, because “that’s the best use of our resources.”
Republican critics of countywide voting claim it makes elections less secure because it could allow people “to double or triple vote,” though there’s no evidence that countywide voting is less secure. In addition, Texas election officials have procedures in place to prevent double voting, including the use of technology that helps officials know in real time who has voted and where.
Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She is based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org
