# A pastor, a ballot, and his church as a polling place

> Dallas Republicans want a church pulled from the vote-center list because its pastor is on the November ballot.
- Title: A pastor, a ballot, and his church as a polling place
- Summary: Dallas Republicans want a church pulled from the vote-center list because its pastor is on the November ballot. No violation has been found, but the state…
- Keywords: elections, dallas, texas politics, conflict of interest, polling places, news, politics, pastor, ballot, church, polling, place
- Source: Dallas Express — https://dallasexpress.com/city/pastor-on-tx-30-ballot-while-church-listed-as-dallas-vote-center
- Author: Dallas Express
- Published: 2026-09-15T12:00:23+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: elections, dallas, texas politics, conflict of interest, polling places, news, politics
## The setup nobody planned
Friendship-West Baptist Church is on Dallas County's vote-center list for the November 3 general election. Its senior pastor is also on that ballot.
## Who the pastor is
Frederick Douglass Haynes III is the Democratic candidate in Texas' 30th Congressional District. He has led Friendship-West for more than four decades.

> District 30 deserves representation rooted in the lived realities of everyday people
## Republicans push back
Dallas County GOP Chairman Monty Montañez says the party has raised the issue with the county elections department more than once. They want the church struck from the Election Day list.
## The money question
Montañez's sharpest point is about payment. The county pays polling locations, and the pastor draws compensation from the church that gets paid.

> How does that not create, at minimum, a serious appearance of a conflict of interest?
## Officials already looked
The party was told the elections administration, the district attorney, and the Texas Secretary of State reviewed this during the primary and found no violation.
## The state takes another look
Montañez says the party has since been told the Secretary of State reopened its review with the general election approaching. His argument is that legal is a floor, not a standard.

> Voters deserve complete confidence that their polling places are neutral
## The referee metaphor
Black Republican activist Ajua Mason put it bluntly. The church has a long activist record, including a Black Lives Matter flag flown in 2020.

> like a referee calling the game from his own living room when he's also one of the players
## What is still unproven
Activism alone does not make a polling site illegal. The reopened review and the payments both come from Montañez, unconfirmed by elections officials, and the church, campaign, and county have not commented.
## Key takeaway

No violation has been found, but the state reopened its review, and a candidate's own church as a polling place is a hard optic to defend.