Texans heading to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, will find more than 500 fewer Election Day voting locations across the state than they had in 2018, according to an analysis by the CBS News Texas I-Team published Friday.
The I-Team said it compared the number of Election Day polling places in each of the state's 254 counties with the 2018 count and found declines in 130 counties. The report gives the statewide drop as more than 500 sites but does not publish the 2018 and 2026 totals or name the records it used.
Countywide voting changes the math
Election officials told CBS that site counts alone can be misleading because many counties now let voters cast a ballot at any location in the county rather than only at an assigned precinct site. The Texas Secretary of State's office lists 103 counties approved to use that system, the Countywide Polling Place Program, for the Nov. 3 general election.
Dallas, Collin, Tarrant, Grayson and Brazos counties are among them; Denton County is not.
The I-Team found that nearly six in 10 countywide-voting counties have fewer Election Day locations now than in 2018.
North Texas counties
- Dallas and Collin: Both use countywide voting, and both have added Election Day locations since 2018, the analysis found. CBS said 16 other counties have also added sites.
- Tarrant: The county plans 223 Election Day locations this year, compared with 338 in 2018. A lawsuit over the reduction of 115 sites alleges the cuts fall hardest on Black and Latino voters. County officials have defended the plan, saying it saves money and still provides enough places to serve voters. CBS reported that the Maverick Activities Center at UT Arlington, a site students used between classes, will not be open on Election Day; county officials said other sites are nearby.
- Denton: The county still assigns voters to precinct sites and has added 54 Election Day locations since 2018. Elections Administrator Frank Phillips told CBS, "We don't have the legal ability to reduce sites," and said that finding sites that meet the rules is "becoming harder and harder."
- Kaufman: The county dropped from 29 locations to 23. Election Administrator Tandi Smith said six sites could no longer serve, citing changes in ownership, capacity and accessibility requirements.
Why distance matters
CBS cited a 2026 study, "Polling Place Location and the Costs of Voting," which found that each additional mile between a voter and a polling place lowers the chance of voting in person by 1 to 3 percentage points.
Early voting ended Friday. In countywide counties such as Dallas, Collin and Tarrant, registered voters may use any open Election Day site in their county on Tuesday; in Denton County, voters go to their assigned precinct location.
Sources
CBS News
sos.state.tx.us
