In South Texas, university students accuse Democratic county officials of suppressing their votes

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McALLEN — Rodolfo Rendon De Hoyos is frustrated his South Texas college campus was not selected to host an early voting site.

Now, the student organizer at Texas A&M International University in Laredo is demanding answers from Webb County officials.

On Tuesday, De Hoyos and a group of students called on Webb County officials to reinstate the university as a polling site during early voting, accusing them of suppressing the student vote for only having a polling location there on Election Day.

Webb County officials have said the decision to not host an early vote center at the university was agreed upon by both political parties and multiple county officials and was influenced by data and logistical concerns. Early voting ends Friday, making the student’s demand moot for the 2024 election. However, county officials signaled an openness to reconsider the campus as an early voting site in upcoming elections.

Nevertheless, the clash is the latest squirmish in Texas over voting access, especially on college campuses. Earlier this year, Tarrant County, which includes Fort Worth, debated removing early voting sites for some of its college campuses. The plan — which Republican party leaders said was an effort to help conservatives win — was ultimately rejected. More broadly, state lawmakers spent considerable time in 2023 rewriting state laws that govern when and how early vote centers operate.

De Hoyos, 20, is a permanent resident and therefore cannot legally vote. His ineligibility motivates him to encourage those who are eligible to vote.

The Laredo college students coordinated with MOVE Texas, a nonprofit that works to encourage civic engagement among youth communities, to provide free shuttle rides from the university to a polling site about 5 miles away as part of Vote Early Day, a movement started by MTV, the pop culture television network.

About half a dozen students participated — a fraction of the total student population, which is about 8,500.

"This, to me, is quite frankly absurd and it's very counterproductive to the concept of democracy," said Alexis Esparza, a TAMIU student. "Why is it that us, a student organization, have to go out and organize buses so people can go and vote?"

Esparza pointed to a Texas Tribune analysis that showed that only 50% of the state’s 36 public universities had an on-campus early voting location in 2022. Just two of Texas’ nine historically Black colleges and universities had an early voting site.

More than 95% of the population in Webb County identifies as Hispanic, a voting block that both Republicans and Democrats have identified as significant to winning seats in South Texas.

The TAMIU students argued having a location on their campus was essential for students with busy class schedules, who have to work long hours, or who live on campus.

"To essentially remove the closest polling location that they could possibly have, just put that much more of an obstacle into their everyday routines," De Hoyos said.

Webb County Judge Tano E. Tijerina, a Democrat, said the county previously had a mobile voting site at TAMIU during early voting but state lawmakers outlawed such temporary voting locations in 2019.

Tijerina added the campus lacks sufficient guest parking and saw low turnout. For Election Day, the county worked with the university to have 15 designated parking spots for voters.

"I'm trying to make it more accessible," Tijerina said. "Why would we try to oppress?"

The students had accused the county officials of not addressing their concerns about the polling sites during earlier meetings. The judge, who acts as the county’s chief executive, said the polling sites had been discussed at two public meetings twice but that the students didn't show up for either.

Conversely, voting centers were not discussed at the meeting students did attend. And because the item was not on the publicly posted agenda, county commissioners could not discuss that matter.

Selecting polling sites throughout the county is not decided by a single person, said Elections Administrator Jose Luis Castillo. He said his office meets with the county's party chairs and base their decision on historic turnout data The selections are then approved by the commissioners court.

Webb County Democratic Party Chair Sylvia Bruni said she was not consulted on the location of the early voting sites and had only spoken with Castillo after the decision had been made to not include the university as a polling location.

"If I had been involved, I would have unequivocally protested the decision to remove the early voting polling place from TAMIU," Bruni said.

Castillo later clarified he had met with the party chairs regarding the March Primary voting locations, not the general election sites.

So while the university wasn't chosen this year, Castillo said they will consider the location for future elections.

"I went to go visit the site already –– it's adequate, we will have reserved parking," Castillo said.

Tijerina agreed the county would probably use the site in the future now that parking accommodations had been made and Castillo appeared satisfied with it..

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

Disclosure: MOVE Texas and Texas A&M International University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.