Want to Keep Your Place at the Table? Get Off the Sofa

By A. Govea

In my more than seventy years on this earth, I have lived through many elections that felt important. I even remember voting for candidates under La Raza Unida Party — a moment that was historic and very hopeful. Through all those decades, I believed we were voting for progress. We simply had to keep pushing forward.

Pero this time, it feels different. It feels like we are voting for the survival of Voting Rights, Civil Rights, and a return to established laws and basic humanity. Under this second Trump term, we have witnessed long‑standing protections — including Due Process — eroded or ignored. People are being snatched by ICE agents using tactics that resemble the Gestapo, something we never imagined seeing in our country.

Some have been run over, shot, and more than a few have been murdered. Children have been left abandoned when parents are hauled away. Entire families have been detained, including mothers still nursing infants.

Equally alarming, many states and counties — including Tarrant County — have undergone redistricting in non‑census years. These efforts were not designed to improve representation. In fact, they have done the opposite: stripping Black and Brown voters of the ability to elect leaders who understand their communities.

On a personal level, in my role as president of LULAC Council 4568, I joined the League of Women Voters in filing a lawsuit against illegal redistricting. We did not prevail in court, but our pursuit of justice has not stopped.

More recently, the same Republican commissioners who supported that redistricting voted to close voting sites. Tarrant County has seen a 29% decrease in voting locations. Why?

According to those commissioners, one reason is “saving money.” Pero a recent report shared with Hola Texas shows election expenses have increased from $800,000 to $1.4 million. What does that tell you?

A lawsuit filed by local citizens — Deborah Peoples, Maryellen Hicks, and Camillie Rodriguez — to restore those voting sites was denied by a local court. Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig stated that out of 479 potential sites, only 269 were willing to serve this year. So, in what may be the most consequential election of our lifetime, Tarrant County is going from 316 voting sites to only 224 on Election Day.

County Commissioner and candidate for County Judge Alisha Simmons put it plainly: “It is not about cost; it is about power.”

I agree with her. Pero, I still believe that we the people have more power than three Tarrant County Commissioners. The real question is:

Will we use that power — or will we keep snoozing until we lose it all?