Voting Rights
The Justice Network spoke out in force against a rushed attempt to redistrict Tarrant County mid-cycle, i.e., five years before the 2030 U.S. Census. Here is a brief clip of Harriet Harral’s strong public comment to the Commissioners Court in May 2025. Harriet has been a member of our Jail and Criminal Justice action team since its beginning. She was one of many Justice Network members who named this action by our Tarrant county judge for what we believe it obviously is: illegal racial gerrymandering. You can view Harriet’s complete statement here. (Her comment is at 2 hours and 31 minutes.)
Here’s some background: In the spring of 2025, County Judge Tim O’Hare decided to attempt to redistrict Tarrant County. He hired a Virginia firm, Public Interest Legal Foundation, to draw new voting maps. That action was approved by the Commissioners Court on April 2, 2025 in a 3 to 2 vote. The process was rushed through, and on June 3, despite about 150 people speaking (or officially commenting online) against it, Judge O’Hare and his two allies on the Court voted 3 to 2 to approve a new map. A group of residents filed a lawsuit the next day alleging that the map violates the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution by intentionally discriminating against Black and Latino voters — which is exactly what Harriet pointed out so well in her public comment.
The Justice Network’s voting rights action team produced two fun and successful Democracy Needs Us Now events in 2024. Both events had over 100 attendees who were treated to great speakers, information to help them register to vote and make sure their friends were registered, opportunities to become Social Stormers (on social media), how to become relational organizers, and more.
Many thanks to a great team and especially to our amazing emcee, Diana Sharp, whose high octane energy was soooooo contagious!
Contact Katherine Godby (KGodby.jntc@gmail.com)
or Di Sharp (DSharp.jntc@gmail.com)
for information on our voting rights team.