An appeals court declined to issue an emergency court order restoring precinct-based voting for the primary runoff election that was sought by a Dallas County GOP precinct chair.
The court’s ruling, as it stands, means voters will be able to vote anywhere in the county for the May 26 primary runoff elections.
Barry Wernick, who is a precinct chair for the Dallas County GOP and the party’s nominee for Dallas County Commissioner Precinct 2, which includes the Park Cities and parts of Preston Hollow, had called for restoring precinct-based voting in a filing in the Fifth District Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas in an April 24 opinion rejected Wernick’s call for an emergency order restoring precinct-based voting for the May 26 primary runoff elections.
In his filing, Wernick had sought to “compel Respondent Paul Adams, Election Administrator of Dallas County, to conduct the May 26, 2026 Republican Primary Runoff Election using precinct-based, Election Day voting, as required by the December 31, 2025, Election Services Contract executed between the CEC and the Dallas County Elections Department, and to disregard the purported First Amendment to that Contract signed without authorization by the CEC’s former chair, Allen West, before he resigned,” according to court documents.
The court’s opinion on the issue stated: “At best, relator claims that the Dallas County Republican Party County Executive Committee, rather than relator, will be injured if the runoff election is conducted in the manner provided by the amendment to the election services contract signed by the chair of the committee. The injury, if any, is traceable to the Chair, not to either respondent. And there is no favorable decision we can render to redress the conflict, if any conflict exists, between the Chair and the CEC.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Wernick said he’s evaluating next steps after the court’s ruling, including the possibility of appealing to the Supreme Court of Texas.
“Disappointed by today’s 5th Court of Appeals ruling. They dismissed our petition on procedural grounds only — without addressing the actual merits of the case,” Wernick wrote. “The fight for precinct-based Election Day voting continues.”
The issue of whether or not to move forward with precinct-based voting or the countywide vote center model for the primary runoff election has been a sticking point since the March 3 primary election. More than 300 voters were redirected from University Park United Methodist Church alone on Election Day March 3.
Early voting for the May 26 primary runoff election runs from May 18 to 22.
Author
