A Tarrant County Democratic election judge says a routine primary runoff morning turned ugly when a Republican election judge at her polling place allegedly assaulted her on Tuesday. The Democratic judge, who has overseen that location for 15 years, told party officials she discovered that the Republican judge had removed an official seal and opened voting equipment assigned to Democratic voters.
According to a news release from the Tarrant County Democratic Party, the organization sent advocates to the site to check on the judge. One of those advocates contacted the police, who then took statements from everyone involved. No charges have been filed, and the Tarrant County Republican Party declined to comment, as reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
What the party said
“A day which was otherwise calm and marked by bipartisan efforts to run a smooth primary runoff election was marred by an act of violence and unacceptable election equipment tampering,” Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo said in the release, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The statement did not name either judge or specify the city where the incident occurred.
Why the seal matters
In Tarrant County, polling place equipment is secured with numbered seals, and those numbers are logged on an official register to confirm that machines have not been altered after leaving the elections office. The county’s Election Judge Handbook instructs judges to record those seal numbers on the Register of Official Seals and Proper Installation and to break only the seals that are designated for removal at particular steps when opening and closing the polls. These procedures form part of the chain-of-custody system used to track voting machines and ballots in the Tarrant County Election Judge Handbook.
Investigation and next steps
The Democratic Party says its advocates remained in contact with the judge and that the episode was reported to law enforcement, which will determine whether any statutes were violated. In its statement, the party urged voters, poll workers, and elected officials to “promote an environment of peace and fairness” and said it maintains confidence in the Tarrant County Elections Office and in the tri‑partisan ballot board that reviews mail‑in and provisional ballots.
Why this matters
Even incidents that do not immediately result in criminal charges can rattle public trust in how local elections are run, especially when they involve physical confrontations or questions about handling voting equipment. Local election administration in Tarrant County has already drawn unusual scrutiny this year, and officials are relying on clear procedures and calm at the polls to keep confidence intact; for additional context on local election concerns, see coverage by KERA News.
