There won’t be countywide voting centers for the March 5 primaries, and they’re not likely to be ready for the November general election, either.
Although Denton County approved creating voting centers in 2021, the holdup now seems to lie with the Denton County Democratic and Republican parties, both of which have to agree on adding voting centers in the county.
“The county will not have vote centers during the March primary, and unless something changes, I do not anticipate we will have them in the November general election,” Frank Phillips, Denton County elections administrator, said in an email statement Friday.
When the county implements voting centers, Denton County voters will be able to cast their ballots at any polling site on election day, regardless of which precinct they live in. Currently, voters can only do so during the early voting period; on election day, they must head to the polling site assigned to their precinct.
Delia Parker-Mims, chair of the Denton County Democratic Party, told the Denton Record-Chronicle the party is in favor of adding county voting centers.
The Record-Chronicle reached out to county Republican Party Chair Lacey Riley for comment but did not receive a response.
“Once a county institutes countywide voting [centers], all participants in any given election participate together, making it essentially one election,” Phillips said.
“For Denton County, this would not be a problem for the majority of elections, but it does become an issue in March’s primary elections. Our local political parties are not in agreement on holding a joint election during a primary, so they are, in reality, two separate elections and would not qualify as participants in countywide voting.”
According to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, 90 counties have been approved to use countywide voting for general election day.
Denton County Judge Andy Eads responded last year ahead of the November election after Denton City Council members inquired about the delay in coordinating voting centers.
“It is our understanding that the [local Democratic and Republican] Parties are not in agreement on this matter,” Eads said in his statement last year. “Making changes to the voting process is something to be done thoughtfully to ensure election integrity. It is of utmost importance that any changes we make has the support of all stakeholders.”
Amy Taylor, vice chair of the county Democratic Party, sees the contrast between countywide early voting versus precinct-based election day voting.
“We can vote at any voting location on entering early voting, but on election day, anyone who has voted knows how difficult it can be,” Taylor said in a phone interview Wednesday. “... We just need the Republican Party to get on board.”
Since then-state Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, led the charge in 2021 to allow Denton County to open up election day voting at any voting site to any county voter, Taylor said the requirements have changed. Now, both county parties must agree on adding voting centers.
“The requirements had changed, where each party had to agree that they believed in democracy and easy access to the polls, which we obviously have a disagreement about,” Taylor said. “So now the Republican Party doesn’t want to do this, even though it will help their voters.
“It will help their voters just as much as it’ll help our voters.”
Phillips said he doesn’t foresee the issue moving forward until both local political parties agree on a joint primary and the use of the countywide voting program.