Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on Tuesday known as for an extension of voting hours in Dallas and Williamson counties, after studies of voters being turned away from polling places amid confusion over rules requiring voters to solid ballots at assigned polling places.
Hundreds of voters in the Dallas area have been turned away from polling places and despatched to different precincts to solid their ballots, Kardal Coleman, chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Party, informed NCS.
Dallas County will prolong voting hours by two hours, in accordance with county elections spokesman Nicholas Solorzano.
Polls in Dallas County will now keep open till 10 p.m. ET. Most of the remaining of Texas closes at 8 p.m. ET, with El Paso and much West Texas closing at 9 p.m. ET.
Talarico mentioned an extension was wanted to “ensure all Texans’ voices are heard in this critical election.”
Republican officers in these counties opted to run a precinct-based major election, ending the apply of countywide voting on Election Day.
“This was all avoidable,” Coleman mentioned. “We didn’t have to be in this situation.”
The marketing campaign of Talarico’s opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, mentioned earlier Tuesday that it additionally was contemplating asking to increase voting hours.
NCS has reached out to the Dallas County Republican Party and Williamson County Republican Party officers for remark.
Allen West, the previous Florida congressman who chairs the Dallas County GOP, beforehand defended the change, saying he prefers a precinct-based system.
Solorzano confirmed that election officers are “seeing quite a bit across the county” of voters being redirected to their appropriate precinct.
Both Talarico and Crockett are encouraging voters to examine their assigned polling places earlier than touring to solid their ballots.