Tell Denton County commissioners:
We want Voting Centers NOW!
Every Election Day in Denton County, a lot of voters show up at polling places, only to be told that, by law, they can’t vote there or, if they do, their ballot likely won’t be counted.
This happens on every Election Day in primaries, in the general election, and in city, county and school board races.
It will happen to Republicans, Democrats and independents on Nov. 5.
It could happen to you.
Learn why and what you can do about it with just two emails: watch the 13-minute video below, or read this page. Then Take Action.
Read about Voting Centers
in the Denton Record-Chronicle
The Denton County Commission can act to allow registered voters to cast ballots at any polling place in the county on Election Day, but the commissioners have failed to act for three years…
Why is this happening?
• When countywide Election Day voting -- also known as Voting Centers -- was approved by the state legislature years ago, a quirk in the law meant Denton County didn’t qualify.
• That glitch was fixed by the state legislature three years ago. All that’s needed is for our county commissioners to certify that our county meets state requirements for this change to take place, but that has not happened.
Why is this a problem here?
• Denton County is BIG. It’s 33 miles of urban driving from Krum in the northwest to Carrollton in the southeast.
• Most people don’t live, work, shop and go to school in the same place. Many travel outside the county every day.
• Many move within the county.
But I thought we could vote anywhere in the county now…
Yes, you can vote anywhere in the county during Early Voting, but not on Election Day.
On Election Day, you must vote at your assigned polling place, which MAY NOT be the closest to where you live. (Find your own assigned polling place.)
What happens if I show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day?
In Denton County, the law requires you be politely redirected to a different location to cast your vote, even if it is miles and miles away, even if you can’t get there before the polls close.
If you do vote in the wrong polling place, you will probably cast a provisional ballot that likely will not be counted.
How many are harmed?
It happens a lot of voters, but we don’t know exactly how many.
• The county elections office does not count "redirected" voters: there might be 0-10 in one polling place, 300-500 in another.
• For the May 28 primary runoff, Democratic polling locations reported turning away the equivalent of 7% of all voters who cast ballots on that Election Day. Most of these people were GOP voters.) Republican polling locations, more than half of all voting locations that day, did not publicly report their "redirects."
• It's a fair guess, however, that there were at least as many redirected from GOP locations, which could mean that as many as 1 in 6 Election Day voters were turned away.
• How many “redirected” voters later cast ballots on Election Day? How many give up? Also not counted.
• Then there are the "wrong polling place" provisional ballots that are rejected. Also not counted.
Is this voter suppression?
Legally registered voters are discouraged from voting, or their votes not counted.
• This harms voters of all races, political parties.
Does this happen all over Texas?
No.
On Election Day in Denton County, many voters search frantically for the right polling place, or lose the right to vote, or the right to have their vote counted, but this does NOT happen in the 96 counties with Voting Centers, including Dallas, Collin and Tarrant.
What are Voting Centers?
• Voting Centers allow registered voters to vote in any polling place in the county on Election Day, using the same equipment and procedures as on the last day of Early Voting.
• 96 counties with 83%+ of Texas voters have vote centers.
• No county with Voting Centers has gone back to assigned polling place voting on Election Day.
• The Texas Secretary of State reported that “feedback from voters, election officials, and party chairs, along with the turnout percentages, suggests that countywide election polling places offer a way to ensure that voters who plan to vote in the election have an increased opportunity to do so, as they do with early voting.”
Why hasn’t the Commission acted?
All five Commissioners are Republicans. They say they can’t act because “the political parties can’t agree,” but that isn’t true.
• The Denton County Democratic Party is ready to do this immediately. It's the Republican Party that refuses to approve joint voting during primary elections.
• And here's the real outrage: Party primaries happen every other year, but there are a lot of other elections in our county. The commission could have approved Voting Centers for non-primary elections without the approval of the political parties.
But they didn't.
What's going to happen on Nov. 5?
• Nov. 5, the 2024 Presidential Election, is projected to be a big turnout election.
• Denton County now has the largest potential voting population it has ever had.
• Since 2020, thanks to population growth, our county has added more than 100,000 new voters, many of them recent arrivals. That's going to make the situation even worse.
• How much chaos will Denton voters put up with? How much pain is the Denton County Commission willing to inflict on its voters? We're about to find out.
What can I do?
Tell Denton County Commissioners to do their job and protect your right to vote on Election Day!
It just takes 2 emails!
