More than 4,000 Amazon employees signed a petition seeking a paid day off to vote in the Nov. 3 election. The petition comes a day after Amazon warehouse workers planned more than two dozen protests across the U.S. to speak out against poor working conditions, air pollution generated by warehouses, and enhanced health risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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• The internal petition, which began circulating on Tuesday, says voting during the pandemic equals "hourslong lines and confusion over where and how to vote." Paid time off of eight hours would ensure that Amazon employees' votes are counted, it says.
• Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a corporate employee group that initially formed to advocate for lower fossil fuel emissions, organized the petition using an internal company tool. The group has since expanded to seek better working conditions at warehouses during the pandemic.
• Amazon said employees who lack adequate time to vote "can request and be provided excused time off" in the 47 states that have in-person voting.
• Facebook, Apple, Twitter, and Uber have all pledged to give employees time off to vote. Best Buy and Patagonia will close for several hours on Election Day.
• Amazon is the second-largest private employer in the U.S. and employs more than 1.3 million people.

The U.S. Postal Service says a surge in Prime Day packages won't impact its ability to process mail-in ballots for the election. USPS says it processes first-class mail and packages on different equipment and has the ability "to flex its nationwide processing and delivery network" to meet upticks in volume.

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• Amazon typically holds Prime Day in July, but delayed it until Oct. 13 and 14, weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
• The update comes after some social media users called for a Prime Day boycott over fears it could impact mail-in voting. Others have called for a boycott due to Amazon's working conditions, competition with smaller retailers, and high profits for the company and Jeff Bezos.
• Amazon also uses its own delivery network, FedEx, and UPS to deliver packages. UPS and FedEx say they're already dealing with record deliveries this year and Amazon's later than usual Prime Day will result in even more parcels during the holidays.
• USPS said it's delivered ~416 million pieces of election mail, including 64 million mail-in ballots, since early September. The volume is forecasted to be more than double that during the 2016 election.

Why Prime Day might not live up to the hype

Prime Day is forecasted to bring in as much as $10b in sales, including $6.2b from the U.S., representing a 43% boost from last year. While much of the increase is attributed to the pandemic – with people buying more products from home – some forecasters believe the shopping event won't live up to the hype.

• Many customers are turning away from Amazon and shopping at retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, GameStop, and the Microsoft Store, which are having their own sales. Concerns range from Amazon's large market share to its workforce practices and heavy toll on the environment via package deliveries.
• According to The Motley Fool's Jeremy Bowman, consumers are distracted right now because of pandemic-related stresses. This includes declines in income, job loss, and having children who attend a remote or hybrid school. The shift from Prime Day to October from July, when people tend to have more free time...

Amazon will not pay the U.K.’s new digital services tax on goods directly sold to consumers. However, smaller businesses and third-party sellers on the online marketplace will still be subject to higher charges from the tax.

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• Amazon will pay a 2% charge on revenues it receives from third-party sellers. The charge will be passed on in higher fees for sellers but will not be added to the cost of advertising on the platform, Amazon has said.
• Amazon paid £14.46m ($18.6m) in corporation tax on total U.K. revenues of £13.7b ($17.7b) last year.
• Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the new digital tax in April, saying it will force large and profitable companies in the U.K. such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook to pay their fair share of taxes.
• In June, the U.K. and other European countries pledged to move forward with a digital tax unilaterally after the U.S. withdrew from talks about an international tax.

Paramount Pictures plans to sell the upcoming Eddie Murphy sequel "Coming 2 America" to Amazon for distribution on the Prime Video service. According to Variety, Amazon will purchase the worldwide rights to the film for around $125 million.

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• Two large-scale marketing tie-ins – with Crown Royal whiskey and McDonald's – are expected to move to Amazon along with the film itself.
• Producer and star Eddie Murphy will have to sign off on any deal before it's finalized.
• The first "Coming to America," from director John Landis, was released in 1988, and grossed nearly $300 million worldwide.
• Murphy is set to reprise his role along with Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, Paul Bates, and James Earl Jones. The sequel will follow Prince Akeem, who's set to become king of the fictional country Zamunda when he finds out he has a son in America.

A version of this story first appeared in Inside Streaming. Read the full issue here.

An Indiana couple admitted to buying hundreds of electronics from Amazon and requesting free replacement items, which they then sold for a profit. Erin Joseph Finan and Leah Jeanette Finan reportedly stole more than $1.2m in merchandise from Amazon, prosecutors say.

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• The couple reportedly purchased the electronics, such as GoPro digital cameras and Microsoft Xboxes, using "hundreds of false online identities." They then reported to Amazon that the items didn't work or were damaged and received replacements at no charge.
• Both have pleaded guilty to money laundering and mail fraud, which each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
• A plea agreement would order the couple to pay Amazon $1,218,504 in restitution. A sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 9.

QUICK HITS

• Amazon.com Services bought an 18-acre site near downtown San Jose for $59.3m and is reportedly hiring workers.
• Amazon released a trailer for the new film from director Julia Hart, "I'm Your Woman."
• A 4-star store opened in Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, N.J., selling only products rated 4 stars or above.
• Amazon revealed it has created 2,000 jobs in Poland so far in 2020, increasing its total workforce in the country to 18,000 permanent employees.
• Amazon donated $100,000 to the University of Maryland's engineering school for diversity initiatives and robotics programming.
• As Apple device adoption grows in the enterprise, organizations are looking for ways to seamlessly manage and secure devices while extending the world-class Apple experience users expect.*

*This is sponsored content.

Tweet of the Day: Ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana wants Amazon to offer a plastic-free choice at checkouts to help fight the plastic pollution crisis.