Redistricting: ”What used to be a dark art has become a dark science”

Passions have already been flaring in Austin.  But the temperature may get hotter under the Capitol dome as new Census numbers arrive and the thorny process of divvying up the state's 38 Congressional districts commences.  Before he became the senior counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, Michael Li went to school and worked in Texas.  He knows the state well.  And he regards Texas as one of the "highest risk states" for what he warns could be the most aggressive gerrymandering in U.S. history in this cycle.  Li explains why a heavily partisan redraw of Congressional boundaries is a threat to democracy and undermines the concept that each Texan’s vote matters equally.  Republicans have total control in Texas government, which is why Democrats walked out at the end of the regular legislative session and decamped for D.C. throughout the first special session and now into the second special session.  Will the Dems stay away from a third legislative overtime to prevent a quorum and grind the redistricting gears to a halt?  Li talks about what we can expect as we head into what he calls the "10-year Olympics" in Texas.  This time it may look like a cross between a sprint, a marathon and wrestling... possibly with some legislative gymnastics thrown in.
 
Michael Li- Brennan Center’s Democracy Program