More companies are giving workers time off to volunteer as poll workers
15 September 2020
An overwhelming number of companies this year are giving employees paid time off to work the polls on Election Day.
Why it matters: The push from corporate America comes amid a shortage of poll workers, with many older people who would typically do the job planning to stay home because of COVID-19.
What's going on: Old Navy, Tory Burch and dozens of other companies are paying employees for the time they use to volunteer as poll workers on November 3.
- Facebook is giving its employees additional paid time off if they volunteer on Election Day, as it works to stamp out election misinformation on its own platform.
Between the lines: A slew of companies this summer said they would go to their greatest lengths yet to ensure employees were incentivized to vote during working hours. These announcements take voting-related initiatives even further.
- More than 800 corporations have signed onto the "Time to Vote" pledge to allocate time for employees to vote during the workday. Many of those companies have said they would give workers paid time off to vote.
- Uber said election days around the world would be considered a company holiday, while Best Buy is limiting its store hours.
Driving the news: Power the Polls, an initiative that launched to address the shortage of poll workers, partnered with over 70 companies including Starbucks to connect people who want to work the polls with the counties training the would-be workers.
- The group signed up 350,000 people to volunteer to work polls, surpassing its initial goal of 250,000, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
The big picture: Major employers are stepping up to fill a void from the government in helping to ensure that the elections will be safe and fair.
- Some of the largest tech companies, like Snapchat and Facebook, are also leveraging their reach to encourage younger people on social media to consider becoming poll workers or to direct them to polling locations.
The bottom line: Businesses are giving unprecedented leeway for its employees to vote and help during what could be America's most complicated Election Day yet.
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.