Dallas County GOP scraps countywide voting, thousands of Democrats turned away

Dallas County Republican Party Chair Allen West decided to hold a separate Republican primary in 2026 — distinct from the Democratic primary — after abandoning a plan to hand-count all ballots due to cost and logistics. The separation meant the two parties contracted independently for polling locations, leading to party-specific precinct voting rather than the countywide vote centers Dallas had used since 2019. Texas Tribune NBC News

The root cause of the separate primary decision was distrust of electronic ballot-counting machines. Dallas County Republicans sought to hold a separate primary to maintain 'better control' over counting. When hand-counting proved infeasible, they kept the separate primary structure but dropped hand-counting — preserving the disruption without the stated justification. Texas Tribune Votebeat

On March 3, 2026, voters throughout Dallas County arrived at vote centers they had used during early voting — countywide locations — and were told they couldn't vote there. They had to travel to a precinct-specific location that, in many cases, they had never voted at before. Some locations listed online were wrong. CNN NBC News

Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman said the number of voters redirected or turned away was 'more likely in the thousands.' Dallas County Democratic Party Executive Director Terri Burke said approximately one-third of voters who showed up were having problems finding where to vote. NBC News Brennan Center

Voter Veronica Anderson walked 2.5 miles to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center to vote, only to be told she was at the wrong place. 'I walked up here because I want to vote so, so bad,' she told Dallas Free Press and Votebeat reporters. 'It felt like your self-esteem and everything is torn down.' Votebeat KERANEWS

Dallas County District Court Judge Staci Williams signed an emergency order at 5:30 p.m. extending Democratic polling hours to 9 p.m. The order found 'mass confusion' severe enough that the county Election Department website had crashed. The Dallas County Democratic Party chair, Kardal Coleman, filed the emergency petition. Texas Tribune KERANEWS

The Texas Supreme Court issued a stay just before 9 p.m., ordering all votes cast by voters who were not in line by 7 p.m. to be 'separated' — held apart from the main count pending a ruling on whether they'll be counted. Ken Paxton's AG office intervened, arguing the lower court hadn't properly notified his office before issuing the order. Texas Tribune KERANEWS

Allen West defended the decision publicly: 'That's on them. You didn't see us asking for an injunction. We did a good job of explaining the process to our voters.' Democrats counter that the confusion disproportionately affected Democratic precincts, where voters had relied on countywide centers. NBC News NAACP

Political parties, not counties or the state, administer primary elections in Texas. This means the Dallas County Republican Party had unilateral authority to change voting procedures that affected Democratic voters — without any vote by county government or state approval. Brennan Center Texas Tribune

The votes cast after 7 p.m. remain in legal limbo. The Texas Supreme Court's temporary stay leaves open whether they will be counted. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins acknowledged the ruling and said the county would release results that were already counted. KERANEWS Texas Tribune