This year he didn’t have a choice.
When he walked Friday into Josey Ranch Lake Library in Carrollton to vote early, Ray, 34, was surprised to be greeted by an election worker directing voters toward check-in tables and machines for Republicans on one side of the room and Democrats on the other.
Being forced to publicly identify their party inside voting centers has rattled some voters, a shift triggered by the county GOP’s decision to break from a jointly administered March 3 primary with Democrats. That means separate check-in tables, workers and voting machines for each party inside shared locations, during early voting and on election day.
“I deeply feel your vote is your own and the fact you have to split up in an obvious way … it feels like another way they’re trying to split the country in two,” Ray said.
Republicans defended the move, saying it protects party control and prevents conflicts between workers from different parties.
‘Separate but Equal’
Onsite, the setup has stirred tension and raised concerns about privacy.
Liza Hameline, the Democratic election judge at Josey Ranch Lake library, said she has seen neighbors get outed to one another while voting and others outraged at having to announce something they consider personal.
When voters push her on why they are required to vote this way, Hameline said she’s directing them to the county Republican Party chair, Allen West.
“This whole separate but equal thing is making it like we’re not a unified community and that’s jarring for them just because it’s like we’re on one side and you’re on the other,” Hameline said.
At Northway Christian Church, a large early voting site, the separation is on full display.
Strips of red and blue tape run across the floor, guiding voters in different directions before they even reach the check-in area. The arrows lead to distinct tables, where election workers sort them based on their party ballot.
The last time Dallas County voted in this manner was in 2018, said county Commissioner Andrew Sommerman, a Democrat.
In subsequent joint primaries, voters shared election workers and equipment, and the only time a person had to declare their party affiliation was at the poll book during check-in to print their ballot style.
More than 200 Republican Party precinct chairs voted in September for the separate primary, a decision that affected voters of both parties.
West, in an interview Monday, said the arrangement keeps each party in charge of its primary and avoids friction that has occurred when clerks from different parties worked side by side.
“Everyone needs to take a big chill pill and stop overreacting,” West said.
In the primary Texans are picking nominees for the U.S. Senate and House, governor, statewide and county offices, the Legislature, judges and more.
No Privacy
Because the county controls the early voting period under the election code, officials kept universal voting centers in place for the 10-day period in which voters can cast a ballot at any location regardless of address.
That will change on the March 3 election day, when residents will be required to vote at their assigned neighborhood precinct for the first time in nearly a decade due to the separate primary.
On Election Day 173 locations will be shared by Democrats and Republicans but 177 others will be party specific.
County officials have worried the change will cause mass confusion and are encouraging people to vote early.
More than 102,000 early votes had been cast through Sunday in Dallas County, three quarters of which were by Democrats, according to Elections Department data.
Holding separate primaries with that margin has strained voting centers because parties cannot share workers or equipment.
Election judge Juzar Hasta, a Democrat, said there have been periods at the Valley Ranch Library in Irving in which Democrats have had to wait in line for one of the party’s nine voting machines to be freed up while the nine reserved for Republicans sat empty.
“People are not happy. This is a useless way to do it,” Hasta said. “It’s not in the best interest of voters when there are machines just sitting idle.”
Luis Medina, 68, and his son Gabriel Medina, 23, both Republicans, said Friday they were uncomfortable when they went to vote early at the Josey Ranch Lake library.
Medina said he’s been a voter his whole life and instilled that in his son, but this year “felt very off.”
“You can look over and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know she was a Democrat or Republican,’” Luis Medina said. “The main thing in my opinion is voting is supposed to be a private thing.”
Laura LaTurner, also a Republican, wasn’t so fazed: “No big deal,” she said while walking out of the library.
Despite backing the change to precincts for election day to reduce “fraudulent activity,” West, the GOP chair, cast his ballot on the first day of early voting at the South Garland Library.
Based on his voter registration, his March 3 polling place would have been a nearby middle school instead.
West said he was setting an example to encourage people to get out and vote.
In a social media post, West also found issues with the separate setup. He said it was “quite disturbing” that a greeter was asking voters about their party and then “editorializing about her views on the matter.”
He said voters don’t need to announce anything: “Just go off in two different areas.”
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