This is the Progress Texas Daily Dispatch, delivered every weekday by Progress Texas Advocacy Coordinator Tatum Owens. Rapid response on the breaking news stories Texas progressives need to know—all in less than 10 minutes!

A loud room was silenced and emptied yesterday in the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, but advocates also snagged a voting rights victory for the time being. Yesterday morning, the Commissioners Court unanimously delayed the vote to remove just about half of the available polling sites in the increasingly competitive, purple Tarrant County, population: 1.3 million. As Chris mentioned in yesterday’s Daily Dispatch, the MAGA Republican Court proposed cutting 45%, or 176 polling locations, targeting marginalized communities (Black, Brown, and student populations) ahead of the highly anticipated midterm elections in a few short months.

Cecilia Lenzen at The Fort Worth Report shared that the vote to remove 176 locations was postponed to the Sept. 1 meeting, with Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare conceding this time around that he “wasn’t comfortable with how many polling locations were being cut,” and let’s hope public attention and another filled room down the line keep it that way.

HOWEVER, that discomfort from O’Hare, and the decision to postpone did not come without a struggle. What did O’Hare do, to respond to the nearly 100 concerned Texans that filled the room, resulting in a seven-hour long meeting? He locked them out.

That’s right, to no one’s surprise, O’Hare who once told fellow County Commissioner Alisa Simmons to “sit down and be quiet,” essentially told the same to dozens of advocates who voiced their opposition to his blatant, transparent attempt to steal and suppress marginalized votes: telling sheriffs “clear the entire chambers,” of the attendees: to get out and shut up.

Michelle Davis at Lone Star Left highlighted one such example, with the disturbing removal of 73-year old former State Representative Lon Burnam: who was arrested and dragged out of the room by all four of his limbs. Burnam, a frequent testimony speaker, was donned with a “protect voter rights” button and civil rights era t-shirt, later forced to the floor by deputies and carried out. One bystander recording noted “Y’all are taking an 80-year-old white man to jail, I can’t believe this, it’s really bad.”

Why the spectacle? Because O’Hare deemed it so, reasoning that Burnam disturbed the meeting by picking up the microphone. It’s all a game to him, while those on the other side of his dais face the consequences: pick your choice: get arrested or lose equal access to your vote? Burnam was released this morning according to Tarrant Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo, but had to spend the night in jail nonetheless for O’Hare’s games.

Other notable attendees featured State Representative Vikki Goodwin, Democratic U.S. Congressional Candidate Kevin Burge; as well as dozens of advocates, also expelled from the room. Rep. Goodwin interviewed Commissioner Simmons after the meeting, who shared a few closing thoughts until the Sept. 1 meeting which she invited everyone who attended to re-join. They shared:

• that Tarrant County has grown by 80,000 new registered voters. A growing city should have MORE locations, not less to accommodate the people’s constitutional rights and equal access to the polls.

• That this meeting had a record number of sign-ups. This diverse coalition fought back and the Republican lead-majority Court (who conducted racial gerrymandering under O’Hare) had “no choice but to listen,” in Simmons’ words.

So, where do we go from here? Some reminders: remember that O’Hare and fellow vote-suppressor, Commissioner Manny Ramirez are on the ballot this year. Remember to keep showing up, and in numbers at that. And remember that this is only one head of the hydra: closed polling locations in Tarrant will have to wait another day, but the racial redistricting and new maps (Congressional and in Tarrant’s County Commissioners Court as well) passed, so we have those obstacles to face and we fight back with our votes, increasing access for our neighbors, and conversations with EVERYONE about what is happening, if you’re a Tarrant voter.