EP 383 Census 2020 and Its Impact on Elections Going Forward

It is constitutionally required that we do an ‘actual enumeration’ of the residents of the United States every ten years on the 00’s. Well, it’s that time. And in the middle of a pandemic and a presidential election, we are being reminded of how challenging that process can be and yet how important it is. After all it was the GOP’s Operation RedMap, in the wake of the 2010 census, that masterfully, though of dubious legality, re-drew Congressional districts in key states that swung to their advantage even while losing the popular vote statewide. The notion of gerrymandering is alive and well in America. In 2020 Democrats have set up their own approach to monitoring the process state by state in an attempt to blunt the advantage Republicans gained in the recent past. How that all plays out will take time, but of more immediate concern is how delays in doing the census, because of the pandemic, will affect states and redistricting. Many states are up against deadlines codified in their Constitutions and laws. To sort out as best we can what could result in a legal and political tangle, we talk to Christopher Lamar of the Campaign Legal Center and Jeff Zalesin, who at the time of the recording was an attorney for the Campaign Legal Center and has since left that position

Podcast: Play in new window | Download