Mapped: All of the states considering voting rights changes
23 April 2021
Data: Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law; Cartogram: Michelle McGhee/Axios
Georgia is not alone in passing a law adding voting restrictions, but other states are seeing a surge in provisions and proposals that would expand access to the polls, according to data from the Brennan Center for Justice.
Driving the news: Just Wednesday, the New York State Assembly passed a bill to restore voting rights to convicted felons who have been released from prison.
- The number of restrictive voting bills matches or exceeds the number of expansive ones in several key battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin.
- Changes to the voting process could make the biggest difference in states with close elections.
By the numbers: There were 361 state bills as of April 1 that could make it more difficult for some people to vote being considered across states, the Brennan Center data showed.
- Five have been enacted, and 55 have had some kind of committee action or passed at least one chamber.
- Most of the bills would limit the use of absentee voting, while others would impose stricter voter ID requirements.
843 bills with provisions that would expand voting access have popped up across states. Nine have been enacted and 112 have had some movement through legislatures.
- While some states are moving to limit absentee voting, others are moving to expand access to it.
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.