'BradCast' 4/30/2020 (Guest: Legal reporter Mark Joseph Stern on new voting rights lawsuits)

On today's 'BradCast':  A wave of voting rights lawsuits are being launched in states across the country, as we race toward the most critical election in the history of the nation in November amid a global pandemic. Ace legal reporter Mark Joseph Stern of Slate explains the fascinating new lawsuit filed in Texas this week, challenging a state law that severely blocks no-excuse Vote-by-Mail balloting for anyone who is younger than 65. Voting rights advocates argue it is in strict violation of the U.S. Constitution's 26th Amendment, the Vietnam War-era Amendment that lowered the federal voting age to 18. The issue is now more germane than ever, given the deadly threat of the coronavirus to voters in such states who would be required to cast a ballot in-person at the polling place. Voting rights advocates have begun to pursue similar legal challenges in the many states with constitutions expressly guaranteeing "free and fair" elections, in hopes of ensuring voting rights for all in the 2020 election. Also today: new poll shows presumptive Democratic Party Presidential nominee Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in Texas by 1 point – not much, but it does suggest that Texas is in play this year for Democrats. New weekly unemployment claim numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce are grim, but researchers say the actual numbers are likely much, much higher than the official tally, due to overwhelmed state unemployment systems preventing the newly-jobless from filing. There is still no federal plan to contain the virus, but Republicans are ending stay-at-home requirements across the country. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'