Originally broadcast at 10:45 a.m. ET Thursday, July 28, 2022.

Michael Li serves as senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, where his work focuses on redistricting, voting rights and elections. He joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series in a week on “The Vote and Democracy” with a look at how, following the 2020 census, redistricting efforts have played out across the country, how that redistricting will impact politics in the long-term and short-term, and if our current model of redistricting is truly the best path forward.

Prior to joining the Brennan Center, Li practiced law at Baker Botts L.L.P. in Dallas for 10 years. The author of a widely cited blog on redistricting and election law issues that The New York Times called “indispensable,” he is a regular writer and commentator on election law issues, appearing on PBS Newshour, MSNBC, and NPR, and in print in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Roll Call, Vox, National Journal, Texas Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and San Antonio Express-News, among others. In addition to his election law work, Li previously served as executive director of Be One Texas, a donor alliance that oversaw strategic and targeted investments in nonprofit organizations working to increase voter participation and engagement in historically disadvantaged African American and Hispanic communities in Texas.

Li received his JD with honors from Tulane Law School and an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin.

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.