Joe Biden maintains lead in Georgia after hand recount
20 November 2020
Georgia election officials released the results of the state's hand ballot recount of the 5 million votes cast in the presidential election on Thursday.
Why it matters: The report concludes that President-elect Joe Biden is ahead of President Trump by 12,284 votes, slightly narrowing Biden's lead of around 14,000 before the risk-limiting audit.
The big picture: Although Georgia does not have mandatory recount laws, the state permits a recount if the margin is less than .5%, according to NPR. The margin currently sits at at .3%.
- Four counties with new vote totals must recertify their results, and statewide results must be certified by Friday.
- After results are certified, the Trump campaign has until Nov. 24 to request another recount.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.