A total of 68 polling centers may be temporarily closed across Dallas County during two upcoming elections due to what the Dallas County Elections Department called “a tremendous labor shortage.”

The department requested 68 of the county’s 469 polling centers be temporarily closed during a constitutional amendment and joint election May 7 as well as during the primary runoff election on May 24. Elections Administrator Michael Scarpello made the case for the closures to the Dallas County Commissioners Court during its April 5 meeting.

“We have two upcoming countywide May elections, and we’re very concerned about recruiting poll workers for those elections,” Scarpello said. “We’re concerned because there’s a general shortage of labor in every industry; we’re concerned because of the large number of polling places.”

Scarpello said he and department staff had outlined a criteria for selecting which polling centers to temporarily close, such as the proximity to other polling centers and past voter turnout rates. Additionally, Scarpello said he worked with leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties of Dallas County in selecting the polling centers.

County Judge Clay Jenkins, who presides over the Commissioners Court, called for the decision on temporarily closing polling centers to be made during a specially called meeting April 13 at 1:15 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Dealey Plaza Administration Building at 411 Elm St. in Dallas.



Of the 68 polling centers proposed to be temporarily closed, seven are in Richardson, and 33 are in Dallas. View below for a complete list of locations in Community Impact Newspaper's coverage area:

  • Skyview Elementary School, 9229 Meadowknoll Drive, Richardson
  • Lake Highlands High School, 9449 Church Road, Richardson
  • Lake Highlands Jr High, 10301 Walnut Hill Lane, Richardson
  • Wallace Elementary School, 9921 Kirkhaven Drive, Richardson
  • Spring Valley Elementary School, 13535 Spring Grove Ave., Richardson
  • Professional Development Center, 701 W. Belt Line Road, Richardson
  • Richardson N Junior High School, 1820 N. Floyd Road, Richardson
  • Dan D Rogers Elementary School, 5314 Abrams Road, Dallas
  • Vickery Baptist Church, 5814 Ridgecrest Road, Dallas
  • St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 3204 Skillman St., Dallas