Confusion over new voting rules in Texas’s Dallas and Williamson counties caused Democratic voters to be turned away from polling sites Tuesday as the state’s primary election unfolded.
The confusion prompted a judge in Dallas to extend poll hours for the Democratic primary — but that judge’s order was quickly overturned by the Texas Supreme Court following a request from Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins ordered Democratic polling places in the North Texas county, which includes Dallas, to remain open two hours later, until 9 p.m. local time. Republican polling places were not affected and closed at 7 p.m.
Almost immediately, Paxton — who is running for the GOP’s U.S. Senate nomination — moved to block Jenkins’s order. At around 8:30 p.m. Central time, the state’s justices ruled that votes cast by voters who were not in line by 7 p.m. should be separated.
The decision could complicate vote counting in Dallas County, the state’s second-largest county.
Jenkins, a Democrat and the county’s chief executive, blamed the confusion on Republicans, who he said chose months ago to hold separate primaries in Dallas County and in Williamson County, in Central Texas. Doing so required voters to cast their ballots at an assigned precinct, instead of any polling place, forcing many residents to scramble to find their voting site.
Jenkins said the county had spent $1 million to raise awareness among voters and “address the confusion.”
“The Republican Party decided to throw a monkey wrench into the election,” he said.
In Williamson County, just north of Austin, election officials made no mention of extended voting hours in a Facebook post shortly after 7 p.m. local time, when voting was set to end. An automated message on the election department’s phone line also said the polls were closed.
Democrats in Texas are locked in heated primary races, including a Senate contest between state Rep. James Talarico and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who represents Dallas.
According to Texas procedure, if a county’s primary is not held jointly — meaning, if Republicans and Democrats do not agree to hold the election together — then the county’s residents are required to vote in their assigned precincts. Last year, Republicans in Dallas County said they would not hold their primary jointly with Democrats. But many voters, accustomed to joint primaries, assumed they could vote at alternate voting sites and were turned away.
Crockett, who is counting on high turnout in Dallas, urged voters to stand in line as long as possible and said she would join them if necessary.
“We should all be standing together, Democrats, Republicans, and we should all be raising hell,” she said at a Dallas news conference alongside former congressman Colin Allred shortly after the judge ordered the polls to stay open late.
“We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded, because so long as they know they can win, even if it means cheating, they will continue to do it,” Crockett said.
Brenda Allen, the executive director of the Dallas County Democratic Party, told The Washington Post in a call Tuesday that the county party, alongside voting rights advocates, had predicted that the precinct rule would cause confusion. She noted that precinct maps changed earlier this year because of redistricting in the state, so even people who may have been aware of the requirement may have not known what their proper polling spot was.
“Everybody was aware that this would happen just because of the size of our county,” she said. “You have significant changes just from people who just voted in November, so their polling locations may have changed from November. And usually a lot of people can vote countywide, and that’s not the case today.”
Additionally, Allen noted, the secretary of state’s website was not updated with information reflecting this Tuesday.
Talarico said on the social media platform X that he was “deeply concerned” over reports that voters were turned away.
“We will continue to evaluate the situation,” his campaign said.
Kardal Coleman, chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, said voters should not be confused “about what’s happening today.”
“These are signs of voter suppression,” Coleman said. “And it’s been intentional, so we’re fighting. We’re fighting back, we’re standing up, and we’re making sure that you have the opportunity to vote.”
Spokespeople for the Dallas County Republican Party did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Separately, the El Paso elections administrator also extended voting hours in El Paso County due to equipment issues. Polls will remain open there until 8 p.m. Mountain time following reports that voting check-in pads in some polling places were malfunctioning. According to the El Paso Times, the check-in pads do not affect voting machines, which the county’s elections department said are functioning properly.
Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.
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