Republican state legislative efforts to eliminate countywide voting could potentially shape contests across the country as they did in parts of Texas on Tuesday.
In Dallas and Williamson counties, voters who had grown accustomed to casting ballots at any polling location on Election Day were instead required to vote at party-specific precinct polling sites. The shift came after local Republican parties declined to allow countywide voting for the primary, a decision that applied to both parties under Texas law.
The episode highlights how seemingly technical changes to election procedures—such as limiting where voters can cast ballots—can influence turnout and potentially alter political outcomes. They can also lead to rapid-fire court fights, as in Dallas County on Tuesday night when a judge extended voting hours before the Texas Supreme Court
Congress and several state legislatures are weighing broader changes to voting rules. House Republicans have passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE America Act (
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the legislation remains a priority for the administration. It argues these efforts would stop noncitizens from voting, though analysts say evidence of such voting is scant.
President Donald Trump is “very much continuing to focus on the issues that matter here at home for the American people, including the passage of the SAVE Act,” Leavitt said Wednesday.
Some Republican-led state legislatures—including Arizona, Tennessee, and Georgia—are advancing proposals that would move elections away from countywide vote centers and require voters to cast ballots at assigned precinct polling places.
Analysts say the confusion seen in some Texas counties on Tuesday could offer a preview of what might happen elsewhere.
“Anytime you change the rules, especially in a way that makes it more difficult to vote, you’re going to confuse people,” Richard Briffault, a Columbia University professor specializing in election law, said. “Especially the closer it is to an election.”
“Voters are used to the rules that have governed the last several elections,” he added.
Texas Dispute
The change in Dallas and Williamson counties quickly became a flashpoint in the primary, with Democrats warning it could dampen turnout and confuse voters in one of the state’s largest voting blocs.
Republican critics of countywide voting argue the system is less secure, though there is no evidence to support that claim. As turnout appeared sluggish in Dallas County, Democratic Rep.
The rule change applied only to party primaries. Countywide voting will return for the November general election. Dallas and Williamson were exceptions this cycle because, in a primary, one party can prevent both from using the system—a procedural quirk that can influence turnout patterns and which candidates advance.
State Efforts
Texas hasn’t eliminated vote centers statewide, leaving decisions about polling locations in party primaries largely to county party organizations.
Other Republican-controlled legislatures, however, are considering changes that would move elections away from countywide vote centers.
In Arizona, Tennessee, and Georgia, GOP legislators have introduced or backed bills or ballot proposals that would require voters to cast ballots at assigned precinct polling places instead of countywide vote centers, according to the Voting Rights Lab, a nonprofit that tracks and analyzes voting legislation across the states.
Arizona Republicans are pushing proposals—including HB 2366, HCR 2016, and SCR 1030—that would require precinct-based voting rather than vote centers. Two of those measures are ballot referral proposals that would bypass Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs—who vetoed similar legislation last year—and go directly to voters in November.
“HCR 2016 puts Election Day voting back where it belongs: at clearly designated polling places tied to precincts, with reasonable precinct sizes that are easier to staff and manage,” Arizona state Rep. Rachel Keshel (R), the bill’s sponsor, said in a Feb. 24 statement after the measure passed the House. “Voting centers and last-minute location changes create confusion, weaken consistent procedures, and slow results.”
Tennessee lawmakers are weighing similar changes with a Senate bill (SB 2564) and House companion (HB 2304) that would repeal provisions allowing counties to establish countywide “convenient voting centers,” said Jay Riestenberg of the Voting Rights Lab. The bills would also limit the number of early voting locations so each site serves no more than four precincts.
‘Permutations of Paper Ballots’
In Georgia, lawmakers are considering a measure (SB 568) that would require voters to cast ballots in their assigned precincts during early voting rather than at countywide vote centers. The bill’s author, state Sen. Greg Dolezal (R) said the proposed change is meant to simplify ballot printing and administration.
Dolezal told Atlanta First News the bill was needed “so that we would not have to print so many permutations of paper ballots.” He added most residents would vote at their closest precinct.
Oklahoma lawmakers already moved in that direction with enactment of a 2025 measure (HB 1865) that requires voters to cast ballots at their assigned precinct polling place and largely bars counties from using countywide vote centers on Election Day except in limited emergencies. The Conservative Political Action Conference supported the legislation because it said it would bring “local accountability at neighborhood precincts.”
The Georgia measure wouldn’t affect the state’s May primaries, said Daniel Griffith, senior policy director at the Secure Democracy Foundation, though he warned that changes implemented later in the year could still create confusion.
“You might see a situation where all of a sudden voters find themselves in the same place that the folks in Dallas and Williamson counties found themselves in,” Griffith said.
Griffith also warned that stricter registration rules combined with limits on vote centers could discourage participation.
“We’re always concerned about any sort of election-year change in election administration, especially something drastic,” he said.
— With assistance from
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story: