GOP bid to remove polling sites from college campuses in one Texas county fails

An effort by some Republican officials to curb access to early voting on college campuses in Tarrant County failed Thursday, after Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted to keep the polling sites in place.

The push to limit the voting locations was led by Judge Tim O’Hare, a Republican and the chief elected official of the county. He said the measure was intended to save money because those poll locations had low voter turnout. Democrats on the commissioners’ court and local voting rights advocates called the effort an attempt at voter suppression targeted at people of color and younger voters who tend to be more liberal.

O’Hare has said it isn’t the county’s job to make it easier for specific groups to vote.