The Dallas County Republican Party is raising a conflict-of-interest dispute about Friendship-West Baptist Church serving as a polling location while its senior pastor, Frederick Douglass Haynes III, runs for Congress.
Haynes is the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 30th Congressional District. Federal Election Commission records identify Haynes as a Democratic candidate for the seat, while Friendship-West identifies him as its senior pastor, a position he has held for more than four decades.
Dallas County’s published vote-center lists for the November 3 general election include Friendship-West Baptist Church at 2020 W. Wheatland Road. The church has served as a Dallas County vote center in prior elections.
“I’m running for Congress because District 30 deserves representation rooted in the lived realities of everyday people, not corporate talking points, political convenience, or systems that benefit the few while extracting from the many,” Haynes’ campaign website states.
Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Monty Montañez told The Dallas Express that Republicans have repeatedly raised concerns with the Dallas County Elections Department over using Haynes’ church as a polling location while he is on the ballot.
“We were initially told that the Dallas County Elections Administration, the District Attorney, and the Texas Secretary of State had reviewed the issue during the primary and found no violation,” Montañez told DX.
“But that still leaves a very basic question,” added Montañez. “If the Elections Department is paying a church to serve as a polling location, and the pastor of that church is a candidate who receives compensation from the church, how does that not create, at minimum, a serious appearance of a conflict of interest?”
Montañez said the party has since received confirmation that the Texas Secretary of State reopened its review of the matter as the general election approaches.
“Regardless of the ultimate legal determination, the standard for our elections should be higher than simply asking whether something is technically permissible,” Montañez told DX. “Voters deserve complete confidence that their polling places are neutral and free from even the appearance of conflicts of interest.”
The Dallas GOP is calling on Dallas County to remove Friendship-West from its list of Election Day polling locations.
Ajua Mason, a Black Republican activist, also criticized the arrangement in a statement to The Dallas Express.
“Having Freddie Haynes on the ballot while his church serves as a polling place is like a referee calling the game from his own living room when he’s also one of the players,” Mason told DX.
Friendship-West has a history of political and social activism. The church describes itself as a hub for civic engagement and social change, and Haynes’ campaign website touts the church’s work involving voter education, civil rights and political engagement.
The church has also publicly supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Video posted in 2020 by Martin Roland showed a large Black Lives Matter flag displayed at the church.
The church’s political activism does not by itself establish that its use as a polling location violates state election law.
The Dallas Express reached out to the Dallas County Elections Department, the Texas Secretary of State, Friendship-West Baptist Church and the Haynes campaign for comment and clarification regarding the polling location, any payments made to the church for serving as a vote center, and the status of the state’s reported review.
Provided by Dallas Express
