Rowlett Mayor Blake Margolis, right and Ken Paxton, right

Freedom Place Church in Rowlett does not have enough parking spaces to serve as an early polling location,
the Rowlett mayor says

Rowlett mayor questions decision to moving polling place; Paxton continues intimidation efforts

CAROLINE SAVOIE | Contributing Writer
CarolinelSavoie@gmail.com

With less than three weeks before early voting starts in Texas, groups on one side of the political divide are accelerating efforts to bring more voters to the polls while some on the other side are fighting to ensure that fewer people are able to vote or to advocate for others to vote.

In Rowlett, Mayor Blake Margolis is concerned about how his residents are going to get to the polls after the Dallas County Elections Department moved the city’s only early voting location from the Rowlett Community Centre to a local church.

Freedom Place Church in Rowlett does not have enough parking spaces to serve as an early polling location, the Rowlett mayor says

Margolis said that in 2020, for the last presidential election, more than 22,150 people voted at the Rowlett Community Centre — the eighth-highest early voter turnout location in the entire county. He said Rowlett offered the community center as an election location for 2024 at no cost to the county.

“The 2024 presidential election is expected to produce an even higher early voting turnout,” Margolis said. “Therefore, I am concerned by the Dallas County Elections Department’s decision to designate Freedom Place Church as an early voting site.”

Rowlett resident Kellie McKee said she is worried about the access voters will have at the church, as it has only nine parking spaces and one handicap parking space. The community center, on the other hand, has several hundred parking spaces.

Margolis said that Texas Election Code dictates that polling places must provide “adequate space and accessibility.” He said the church parking situation is “grossly inadequate for the turnout expected.”

“This insufficient space and parking directly contradicts the principles of the Texas Election Code,” the mayor said.
McKee also mentioned that the church building is much smaller than the community center, which could force voters to line up outdoors. That, she said, poses a risk of voter suppression for those residents who may not be able to handle heat, especially when it comes to elderly and vulnerable people.

Texas Election Code states that “each polling place for early voting by personal appearance must be located inside an accessible building. A public building, if available, shall be used as the early voting polling place.”

But, Margolis said, “Dallas County has opted to use a location that clearly lacks the necessary facilities and legal compliance. Given the much better alternative available, I question why Dallas County would make this decision knowing that the Rowlett Community Centre, a superior site, was offered at no cost and in the best interest of our voters.
“It is difficult to understand how such a decision serves the public interest, particularly when it unnecessarily complicates the voting process and risks disenfranchising our residents,” he added.

McKee said that Freedom Place is biased politically, as it serves as the venue for Rowlett Area Republican Women’s Club and Rowlett Republican Men’s monthly meetings.

She said the owner and pastor, Kason Huddleston, is on record as openly Republican and conservative, and as having said, “We don’t build churches; we take cities.”

McKee said Huddlestone is also openly anti-LGBTQ.

CBS reported that the Dallas County Commissioners Court has the final say on voting locations, and Margolis is hoping it reconsiders its decision.

“In Rowlett, we have a proud tradition of civic engagement, and it is my priority to ensure that every voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot in a convenient and accessible environment,” Margolis said. “I urge Dallas County to reconsider this decision in light of the possible legal violations, logistical issues and the availability of a far better option.”

McKee, an attorney, said that there are potential legal grounds for an injunction, including voter suppression issues, insufficient parking and facility space, availability of a superior alternative and lack of a valid certificate of occupancy.
She said Freedom Place Church does not have a certificate of occupancy, meaning that it may not be legally used for any purpose, including as a polling location.

Judge Xavier Rodriguez

“The Elections Department’s selection of this location violates the law, rendering it an improper and unlawful site for Early Voting,” she said. “Allowing voting to proceed at this site would result in the county’s sanctioning of illegal activity, necessitating immediate injunctive relief.”

Huddleston this week has threatened to sue the city for “religious discrimination” for its efforts to convince the county not to use the church as a polling site. Huddleston said that after the county designated his church as Rowlett’s only early voting location, the city retaliated by revoking the church’s occupancy permit.

Paxton’s efforts to suppress votes
Additionally, the new Texas Department of Safety guidelines preventing transgender people from changing gender markers on their state-issued driver licenses and IDs could interfere with trans peoples’ ability to vote. If an election judge decides a person’s gender expression does not match the gender on the person’s ID, the judge could refuse to allow that person to vote.

The Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License Division Chief Sheri Gipson, in an August email, directed staff to ignore court orders allowing individuals to have their gender markers changed on state-issued IDs and driver licenses. She also instructed workers to send the names of anyone requesting such a change to a specific email.

That directive came after Paxton had asked DPS to send him a list of everyone in Texas who had requested a gender marker change, but DPS said no such list was available. Earlier this month, DPS Director Steve McCraw asked Paxton’s office for a legal opinion on whether DPS can “voluntarily” change back gender markers on driver licenses and state IDs that went into effect before the “no changes” rule was established in August.

After a federal district court ruled that a portion of Senate Bill 1 was unconstitutional, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton moved to block that ruling. The law, which passed in 2021, allows the AG’s office to “investigate vote harvesting schemes,” according to a press release from Paxton’s office.

The judge, Xavier Rodriguez, said that the controversial piece of legislation interferes with voter canvassing and education efforts, violates the 1st and 14th amendments for burdening protected speech and is unconstitutionally vague.
Rodriguez struck down a section of the law that put criminal penalties on organizers and volunteers who receive “compensation or other benefit” for “vote harvesting services.”

Vote harvesting “often refers to illegally collecting and delivering mail ballots on behalf of voters and is often invoked to imply election fraud,” a writer for the Brennan Center for Justice wrote. In Senate Bill 1, any activity advocating for candidates in the presence of a mail ballot qualifies as “vote harvesting,” but the law did not define what compensation means.

“Plaintiffs are uncertain whether providing volunteers food, beverages, gas cards, bus fare, letters of recommendation or academic credit to volunteers for their advocacy work is unlawful because ‘compensation’ is not defined in the Election Code, and ‘benefit’ is merely defined by a synonym,” the judge wrote in his 78-page ruling.

Under Senate Bill 1, people involved in nonpartisan voter outreach and knowingly engaged in “vote harvesting” could be charged with a third-degree felony and spend up to 10 years in prison or be fined up to $10,000.

Rodriguez’s ruling immediately stops any investigation into alleged “vote harvesting,” including those pursued by Paxton and his office.

According to a press release decrying the ruling and announcing Paxton’s appeal, “SB 1 increased safeguards to prevent ballot harvesting and instituted additional protections ensuring free and fair elections. The judge also banned the Office of the Attorney General from opening investigations into instances of election fraud under the portion of election code enjoined by the decision.”

Paxton claims that Judge Rodriguez’s ruling, weeks prior to an election, prevents his office from investigating potential violations, which he finds “deeply troubling.”

Paxton also requested voter registration data from the Texas Secretary of State to see if noncitizens are illegally registered. He requested the records of every registered voter without a Texas-issued driver’s license or ID to “stop noncitizen voting” and “investigate voter fraud.”

In a press release, Paxton said he asked the Secretary of State to request data from the federal government that would allow Texas to determine the citizenship status of registered voters who the state can’t verify their eligibility.

“The Secretary of State’s Office ultimately sent a request to the federal government that allows for excessive delays, potentially preventing Texas from receiving this critical information before the election,” the press release said.

“Crucially, the request sent by SOS did not provide any information to the federal government about the individuals whose citizenship status needs to be verified, which defeats the purpose of the letter.”

He said the Secretary of State hasn’t sent the list of “potential noncitizen voters” to the federal government, so Paxton requested that she share the list with his office so he can send the list himself. He sent that list to the federal government on Oct. 7.

Opponents have said Paxton’s efforts are very clearly intended to intimidate voters in certain communities — including people of color and LGBTQ people — to keep them from the polls, or to block their ability to vote completely.

Pushing people to the polls
On the other hand, The Normal Anomaly started an initiative called POWR to the Polls to mobilize Black LGBTQIA Texans to vote. The national nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Black queer communities started the initiative in Dallas and Houston as a nonpartisan effort to provide resources, foster conversations and give Black queer Texans the tools to “vote confidently, knowing their rights and ensuring safe access to the polls.”

“Voting is one of the most powerful tools we have to create real, lasting change,” said Ian L. Haddock, founder and executive director of The Normal Anomaly Initiative. “For Black LGBTQIA+ Texans, the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. Critical issues like safety, healthcare, economic justice, and fundamental human rights are on the ballot.
“We’re here to ensure that our community not only shows up but shows out — because our voices matter, and our votes will make a difference,” Haddock said.

A press release from the nonprofit said that Texas continues to be a battleground for issues directly impacting Black LGBTQ lives, like trans rights and fights for racial and economic equity.

“We can’t wait for others to save us. We have to save ourselves,” said Joelle Bayaa-Uzuri Espeut, director of programming at The Normal Anomaly Initiative. “By voting, we’re not just shaping policy, we’re safeguarding our right to exist, live authentically and thrive with dignity.

“Voting is how we defend ourselves.”