Last year, Texas led the US south in an unenviable statistic: closing down the most polling stations, making it more difficult for people to vote and arguably benefiting Republicans.
A report by civil rights group The Leadership Conference Education Fund found that 750 polls had been closed statewide since 2012.
Long considered a Republican bastion, changing racial demographics in the state have caused leading Democrats to recast Texas as a potential swing state.
Texas Democratic party official Manny Garcia has called it “the biggest battleground state in the country”.
“The fact of the matter is that Texas is not a red state,” said Antonio Arellano of Jolt, a progressive Latino political organization.
texas ppl per polling station 2012 - 2018 Guardian graphic | Source: The Leadership Conference Education Fund.
Closing a polling station for reasons of low turnout can have a discriminatory impact, activists say. »