It's Brian Lehrer, and this is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Tuesday, May 12th.

Today, believe it or not, is Election Day, two special elections to fill vacant congressional seats, one in a rural

part of Wisconsin, one in the suburbs north of L.A. They both have implications for the presidential

election this November. The Wisconsin election is in an increasingly Republican district.

Now, if the Democrat does well, loses even, but does better than expected,

it would show widespread unhappiness with President Trump's pandemic response, presumably.

The California election is important, partly because of how people are voting. Governor

Gavin Newsom sent every voter in the district a mail-in ballot,

but they can also vote in person today. According to the New York Times, the mail-in so far

indicate people in the older, whiter Republican parts of the district have voted more than those

in the younger, more Latino areas. And because of a late edition of an extra in-person polling place,

President Trump has tweeted in advance that the election is being rigged.

Get ready for November.

With me now, New York Magazine National Politics Reporter Gabe de Benedetti,

who has a piece called Biden is planning an FDR-sized presidency,

and New York Times Magazine staff writer Emily Bazelon, who has an article now with the headline,

Will Americans Lose Their Right to Vote in the Pandemic?

She is also a Yale Law School Fellow, Slate Political Gapfest member, and author of the book,

Charged, The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration.

Hi, Emily, hi, Gabe.

Welcome back to WNYC.

Thank you.

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