Voting News

Tarrant County adds security measures for November 5 election

There's an election coming up on November 5.

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In preparation for the 2024 General Election, which will take place on November 5, Tarrant County has made some changes to bolster security and increase transparency in the election process.

A release from Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare states that Tarrant County is committed to secure elections and fostering confidence in the election results.

Here's some of the steps they've taken:

• All in-person voting will utilize pre-printed, serialized, sequentially numbered ballots.

• Rally site procedures now ensure ballot bags will be properly sealed by Election Judges.

• Election night results will be transmitted in-person rather than via internet.

• Implemented public search and viewing capability for ballot images.

• Enhanced and improved chain of custody for ballot bags, Election Judge paperwork, ballot storage box keys, and provisional ballots.

• Improved Election Judge paperwork for greater clarity and transparency.

• Enhanced training for Election Judges and Clerks, ensuring statutory compliance and increased ballot security.

• Ballots will be stored by polling location in dedicated boxes.

• E-Pollbooks have been updated to require stricter access controls.

• A live-stream camera has been placed in the Ballot Board storage room.

• Implemented an updated, more secure Voter Registration system.

• Conducted a physical security assessment of the Election Offices.

• Performed a cybersecurity assessment of the Election Offices.

• Updated multiple security protocols to ensure best practices and safeguard against election systems compromise.

They also took other security measures that were implemented after a third-party analysis, and have formed an Election Integrity Task Force to investigate any potential election-related crimes, with a dedicated hotline for reporting.

To report any suspicious elected-related activity, please call the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office Election Integrity Unit at 817-884-1213.

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Death Penalty

Tarrant County man gets death for murder of convenience store owner

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office

Christopher Turner

A man received the death penalty for his 2020 cold-blooded execution of a convenience store owner.

According to a release from the office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Christopher Karon Turner, 48, to death on November 20 for executing convenience store owner Anwar Ali during a robbery. Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Charles Boulware and Allenna Bangs represented the state.

On March 27, 2020, at around 6:15 am, Turner, a convicted felon, wore a surgical mask and a glove and entered the Super Big Country Mart in an unincorporated area of Tarrant County south of Fort Worth. There, he held a gun to the back of Anwar Ali, the 62-year-old store owner, and walked him through the store.

Ali did everything Turner demanded, including opening the cash register to give him money. And yet Turner forced Ali into the bathroom and onto his knees, and shot him in the neck. Ali was discovered, dead in the bathroom, about an hour later.

Turner fled the store in Ali's Toyota minivan with the money from the register and Ali's wallet. In the van, he found more than $50,000 cash in a black bag. Over the next few days, Turner went on a shopping spree, buying cars, jewelry, drugs, clothes, and more. He and others used cash and a credit card that belonged to Ali.

Turner fled to Colorado where U.S. Marshals arrested him. On his body they found a firearm which was determined to be the murder weapon.

"This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder," Boulware told the jury. "From the moment he was charged with this crime, he has tried to escape responsibility."

Bangs noted that before this trial began, Turner obtained the names of jurors and their telephone numbers, and gave them to an inmate charged with murder. At the trial on November 20, as Bangs addressed the jury, Turner tried to hold up a sign to the jury but was handcuffed by Sheriff's deputies who removed him from the courtroom, while he yelled out "she lied."

Ali came to the United States from Pakistan decades ago to pursue the American dream. Ali's son, Hussein, spoke in the courtroom after the death penalty was announced. "Thank you for giving us justice," Ali said. "I hope there are no more devils like this person."