A Tarrant County district judge heard arguments Tuesday over whether the county must restore voting locations removed from its plan for next month’s midterm election, with early voting set to begin Oct. 19. The lawsuit, brought by several residents including Fort Worth City Council member Deborah Peoples, seeks emergency relief to reinstate sites the plaintiffs say were unfairly eliminated. They are not asking the court to delay or cancel the election. County commissioners approved the revised plan last month in a 3-2 vote. It has 92 fewer Election Day polling locations than the county used for the 2022 midterms. County officials have said the changes reduce overlapping sites, improve efficiency and reflect turnout patterns in nonpresidential election years. At Tuesday’s hearing in the 96th Judicial District Court, plaintiffs argued the cuts could increase travel and other burdens for voters in some neighborhoods, particularly Black and Hispanic communities. Their attorneys said county officials initially considered eliminating 140 locations, then restored 48 after public opposition, but the remaining cuts still fall unevenly across the county. “This is not a coincidence; this is a pattern that repeats across the county,” plaintiffs’ attorney Susan Hutchison said in opening arguments. She also questioned whether officials had adequately explained why particular sites were removed or shown that the reductions would produce meaningful savings. County lawyers argued that reinstating locations now would be impractical. They said the county would need to find additional sites quickly and comply with requirements for public meetings before approving them. One county attorney told the court there was “no possible order” the county could comply with on the timeline. Judge Patrick Gallagher questioned whether that position would effectively make the case moot and said he would review the rules governing the reinstatement of polling places. The hearing began at 9:30 a.m. and was expected to continue into the afternoon; no ruling was reported in the information available Tuesday. Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig, the plaintiffs’ first witness, testified that the county has about 1.3 million registered voters. He said he began evaluating polling locations at the county’s request in 2024, considering turnout, overlapping sites, underused locations and whether sites remained available for election use. Ludwig testified that he did not personally seek input from minority communities during his evaluation and did not consider racial or ethnic demographics. He said he relied in part on a survey conducted in 2019, before he became elections administrator. A spokesperson for County Judge Tim O’Hare rejected the lawsuit’s claims before the hearing. Campaign strategist Nick Maddux called it a political stunt and said commissioners had rejected a plan with too few sites in favor of one that would give voters ample opportunity to cast ballots. The dispute centers on whether the county’s plan disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic communities and whether officials followed state election law in developing and approving the changes. Plaintiffs say state rules allow notice of polling-place changes within 72 hours of voting, leaving time to restore sites; county officials say the required steps make changes before early voting infeasible.