You can’t win ‘em all.
The GOP’s latest target in its never-ending quest to make it harder for (certain) people to vote — polling sites at the University of Texas at Arlington and other campuses — slipped through its grasp this week.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, a Republican, tried to get early voting sites removed on campuses, with the extremely dubious claim it would save money because those locations had low turnout. Uh huh. Luckily, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted 4-1 to keep the polling locations — and even added a new site, the Texas Tribune reported. O’Hare was the lone vote against.
He denied that he was engaging in voter suppression and instead blamed partisan politics for the accusation — after which we assume he clutched a giant string of pearls.
“We know it’s partisan. Let’s not pretend like it isn’t,” O’Hare said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We know why the Democrats are here. We’re not trying to fool anybody. The way I’m looking at it is, I’m trying to be efficient and I’m trying to make sure we’re saving money.”
Such schemes are part of a steady drumbeat of Texas politicians trying to make it harder for college students to vote as we head into the November elections.
Sam Eppler, who’s running for Congressional District 24 (which includes Tarrant County), was considering legal action, had O’Hare’s scheme been approved. “Look, I am a huge proponent of making sure that every citizen and eligible voter can vote,” Eppler told the Star-Telegram. “I don’t think we should be making it harder for people to vote. We should make it easier for citizens to vote.”
The Tarrant County Young Democrats have also said they were also planning to go to court if the polling locations were removed. “We defeated Tim O’Hare’s voter suppression, and if Tim O’Hare tries to suppress the vote again, we’re going to defeat it again,” Hunter Griffin, the group’s president, told the Star-Telegram.
