Primary Election Day updates: Lines, problems and what voters are saying on the streets

Primary Election Day is finally here! And the Star-Telegram is on the ground bringing you the latest on what’s happening at polling stations in Tarrant County.

Check here for updates on everything from wait times and long lines to machine malfunctions and more.

And check out our 2024 primary voter guide, with detailed information about state, county and congressional races.

To find the polling station nearest you, see a sample ballot and more, check the Tarrant County elections website.

If you see any issues at your local polling station, let the Star-Telegram know. Send an email to ccopeland@star-telegram.com.

Voters at North Hi Mount Elementary experience ballot scanner problems

Ballot scanners at the polling place located at North Hi Mount Elementary School malfunctioned for much of the day, according to voters who had issues with them.

Fort Worth resident Shelly Davis, 72, said she had to repeat the voting process after the first ballot she filled out failed to scan.

“They told me they had been having trouble with it all day,” she said in an interview.

The issue took her an extra ten minutes, she said.

Republican Election Judge Laura Dural told the Star-Telegram that she didn’t have the authority to comment on the scanner malfunctions.

While attempting to cast her ballot, a Star-Telegram reporter who is blind found that election workers had not set up the proper accommodation equipment. Election workers told her that she did not have anyone accompanying her and that they did not have the authority to help her with her ballot.

She informed them that the county by federal law must provide accommodations for people with disabilities, and then received assistance. It took about two hours for her to complete the voting process.

Polling places in Texas are required by state law to have proper accommodations for people with disabilities, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act states that voters may be assisted by any person the voter chooses who is not an election worker, two election workers on Election Day, or one election worker during early voting.

The line to vote in the Republican primary reached the school parking lot at a little after 5:30 on Tuesday. An election clerk told voters at the end of the line that the wait would be about 30 minutes.

There was no line for Democratic primary voters at the time.

Democratic Election Judge Terry Vorse said that turnout on the Democratic side was better than in previous years.

“Much better than four years ago,” she said.

Vorse is expecting an “exhausting” general election this year.

The latest figures posted at the polling station entrance showed that 803 Republicans cast their vote at North Hi Mount Elementary and 295 Democrats voted.

No lines at Redeemer Bible Church in White Settlement

Republican voting machines were full, but there was no line at the polling station located at Redeemer Bible Church, at 100 Verna Trail North in White Settlement, just after 4 p.m.

There were no voters on the Democratic primary machines at the time of the Star-Telegram’s visit.

Long lines for Republicans at White Settlement Public Library

The line to vote in the Republican primary at the polling station at the White Settlement Library spilled out onto the sidewalk at around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Republican Election Judge Helen Buncdschu did not give an estimate of how long people in the line would have to wait.

Bundschu told the Star-Telegram that it was against Texas election law to report closer than 100 feet from the polling location and asked the reporter to leave. The Texas Election Code does not specifically prohibit news media from entering a polling location. Poll workers at other locations throughout the day regularly welcomed or invited the Star-Telegram in to speak with election workers.

One couple who preferred not to give their names said they expected to wait about an hour, based on their experience voting in previous elections at the library. They had already tried two other locations in the area on Tuesday and were told the wait could be as long as an hour.

The woman noted that Democratic voters were walking right in to cast their ballots and said she did not care which machine she used in order to vote.

“Whichever is next is fine with me,” she said.

Democratic Election Clerk Rob Linebeck told the Star-Telegram that the average wait time for the Democratic primary line was three to five minutes and that the maximum anyone had waited today was around 15 minutes.

Election workers blame low polling place turnout on split primary

Republican election workers manning a polling place at Morningside Elementary School said the low turnout they had seen by midday was partly due to the split primary system, in which Republicans and Democrats vote separately.

“Split voting makes people not vote as much,” said election worker Ana Alburquerque. “People don’t want to be treated differently.”

Alburquerque said she had seen many people turn away from the polling place because they did not want their party affiliation to be on display.

The latest numbers of ballots cast at Morningside Elementary at the time of the Star-Telegram’s visit were 21 for the Democratic party and eight for the Republican party.

She also said that they had to call the Tarrant County Election Authority to spoil, or cancel out, some votes after people realized they had voted in the wrong party’s primary.

“There has to be a better way. We’re already separated by race, we’re separated by sex, we’re separated by religion, and now by politics,” Alburquerque said. “This is nonsense.”

She and others working the Republican side of the polling station said that previous elections they had worked were not done this way, but Texas primaries have been split by parties for the last century, according to TCU political science professor James Riddlesperger.

“It’s been that way … since the direct primary became the way that we nominated candidates for public office,” he said in a phone interview.

Before the direct primary, people’s party affiliations were even more conspicuous, Riddlsperger said, as candidates were chosen by caucus in which people divided themselves physically into groups to cast their votes.

Still, split primaries likely do deter some voters from going to the ballot box, he said.

“There are people for whom the decision to vote is very difficult and they’re worried that they will somehow offend friends or be typecast by people if they vote in the wrong primary,” he said. Anytime you have a situation where your voter identification is revealed, that’s something that can be a barrier to voting.”

Texas, however, is not alone by far in running primaries this way.

“In something like 47 states there are separate primaries for the Democrats and for the Republicans … so it’s a problem that’s not uncommon nationally, it’s not uncommon at the state level, and it’s not uncommon at the local level,” Riddlesperger said.

Texas runs what are known as open primaries, in which voters can vote in either party’s primary, whether or not they are registered in the party. But they cannot vote in both parties’ primaries.

One way for people who do not want their party affiliation to be known when they vote is to take advantage of early voting dates, Riddlesperger said.

The Tarrant County Republican Party opposed the idea of joint primaries last November.

“We don’t want people that are not on our team involved in our elections,” said Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Bo French told the Star-Telegram then. “These are our elections. We’re going to handle them ourselves.”

No issues after bumpy start at Handley-Meadowbrook

Voters were encountering no lines or issues at the Handley-Meadowbrook Community Center at 11 a.m. after a bumpy start to the morning.

The issue involved an insufficient number of power cords for the voting machines at the beginning of the day, but the problem was quickly resolved and now there are no lines for either Republican or Democratic voters.

Democratic Election Judge Rolanda Darby said that some voters for whom the center is their preferred polling place may have been frustrated, but the issue did not affect very many. Turnout has been “solid and steady” since, she said.

Republican Election Judge Peggy Borchert said her machines lacked one power cord in the morning and that a phone provided by the county didn’t work at first, but that these were normal issues on Election Day.

Republicans outnumber Dems at Southwest library

Republican voters outnumbered Democrats by around five to one at the Southwest Regional Library on South Hulen Street in the first hour of voting.

Manned by the bipartisan duo of Karen and Kal Silverberg, the polling site saw a similar speed bump to that at Tanglewood Elementary at the start of voting, but the issue was resolved within 20 minutes.

“We’re the only husband and wife precinct chair duo in the county,” said Karen Silverberg, who is also the democratic election judge for precinct 4130.

“We’ve been together 43 years and we haven’t killed each other yet,” said Kal Silverberg. “Over politics.”

The two said they and their teams work together to help each other out and make the voting process as smooth as possible for voters. They also said that the ratio they reported was normal for their precinct.

“The whole point is to have a free and fair election and for everybody to be able to vote, and the faster we can get everybody working, the better,” said Karen Silverberg.

Kal Silverberg expressed frustration with claims of voter fraud that have increased since the 2020 presidential election.

“There has been so much yammering about the state of elections, the overwhelming majority of which is either taking one example and blowing it out to an extreme or sheer making up numbers,” he said. “My English teacher in me was cringing because it was a thesis statement with no supporting statements.”

Voters interviewed after casting their votes, all of whom preferred not to give their names, said they saw no issues with the process and that they had faith that their votes were counted correctly.

One, a Democrat, said she voted in the Republican primary to vote for Nikki Haley, who is challenging Republican front-runner former President Donald Trump. Haley has lost to Trump in all but one state primary so far. She won the Republican primary in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

“If every Democrat were strategic and tactical and voted for Haley, we could get that jerk off the ballot,” the unidentified voter said.

Smooth start after glitch at Tanglewood

Voting got off to a smooth start at Tanglewood Elementary School after a small issue with signing voters in turned a couple Republican voters away. By 7:20 a.m., however, people were able to cast their ballots without problem.

Brad Anderson, presiding election judge for precinct 4182, said he called the Tarrant County Elections Administration and got the issue squared away quickly.

“It was just some little glitch, who knows,” he said. “Somebody pushed a button downtown and it started working.”

Some in the line to vote in the Republican primary expressed skepticism about the issue, but Buff Kizer, a Republican voter who was unable to cast his vote, said he was not worried about it.

“It’s just normal,” said Kizer, 75, as he walked back to his car. “Sometimes it just takes time to get the machines going.”

Kizer said he would come back later to cast his vote.

Russel Mahaney, 26, was the first voter to get his “I voted” sticker at Tanglewood Elementary.

“It went smoothly after the initial problem,” he said. “I didn’t notice anything. I checked my ballot afterward and it all looks good.”

Alternative Election Judge Sharon Hamilton praised the Tarrant County Election Administration for the training she and other election workers received ahead of primary Election Day.

“The training provided by Tarrant County Elections was outstanding,” she said. “It was hands-on. We practiced everything.”

Election clerks sitting with her to check voters in agreed.

There was no line for Democratic voters during the Star-Telegram’s visit. After the technical issue was resolved, Republican voters had a short wait time of a couple minutes to get signed in.