Tarrant County will once again let organizations register voters inside county buildings after a policy change kicked them out.
Commissioners voted 3-1 Wednesday to approve the amendment more than a month after they passed a measure limiting such groups to outdoors. The reversal comes after pushback from community members who argued forcing registrars outside — especially in the heat — amounted to a form of voter suppression.
“Voter registration is a public service, and the public should always be welcome inside county buildings to take advantage of this service,” said Reed Bilz with the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County.
The Tarrant County Facilities Use Policy approved by commissioners in July banned the “non-regular use” of county facilities, including “political activities” such as voter registration drive tables set up inside county buildings. Democrat Roy Charles Brooks joined the court’s three Republicans in favor of its implementation.
After passing the amendment offered by Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons Wednesday, the policy now exempts “voter registration activities by county-certified volunteer deputy registrars” from the definition of non-regular county facility use, and recognizes their work as “inherently governmental in nature.”
Simmons, Brooks and Republican Commissioner Gary Fickes voted in favor of the amendment. County Judge Tim O’Hare voted against. Commissioner Manny Ramirez was not present.
After the vote, O'Hare asked whether Fickes meant to support the amendment. The commissioner didn't provide a clear answer and did not change his vote.
Asked by two reporters to clarify his vote after the meeting, Fickes declined to comment.
It's not the first time O'Hare's raised uncertainty over Fickes' votes during commissioners court meetings. During a vote earlier this year on Simmons' motion to waive attorney-client privilege to allow for an open conversation about the powers of the county elections board, Fickes initially voted in favor of the motion.
After questioning and clarification on the intent of the motion from O'Hare and some back-and-forth between O'Hare and Simmons, Fickes reversed course and voted no, which caused the motion to fail.
I agree with the @startelegram editorial board. In fact, I plan to tackle this problem at Court on Wednesday.
— Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons (@CommALSimmons) August 31, 2024
County-certified voter registrars shouldn’t be forced out in the heat to conduct their important work. I was ill during the Commissioners Court meeting in which the…
Simmons' move for an amendment to the facilities policy came after Cornell Woolridge, a volunteer registrar with the Texas Freedom Network, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that while he was operating his voter registration table at the Tarrant County Administration building July 31, an officer told him he’d have to give up the table and chair the county was providing him and move outside because of the new facilities policy.
Weeks later, Woolridge set up his table in the shade of the administration building. He told the Star-Telegram he couldn’t operate outside after 2:30 p.m. because it was too hot at 91 degrees, and no one was likely to stop at his table.
The Texas Freedom Network, the Battleground Texas Engagement Fund and the Jolt Initiative formally requested at Wednesday’s commissioners court meeting that they be authorized to use county facilities to help register people to vote. The commissioners' vote effectively approved their requests.
The Jolt Initiative did not confirm whether the organization had been registering voters on county property recently or if they made a new request. The Texas Freedom Network and Battleground Texas did not respond to requests for comment.
The groups faced criticism from Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French, who said it was “unacceptable” for Battleground Texas — who he called "radicals" — to register voters in taxpayer-funded buildings.
“Our local Republicans must stop this madness,” French wrote. “We have to keep Tarrant red this November if we want to save Texas from Democrats.”
Additional reporting from KERA's Miranda Suarez.
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