Arnold Schwarzenegger offers to open closed polling booths ahead of US elections

Actor and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger who is also the former Governor of California took a jibe at the state authorities ‘closing down’ polling booths across southern US since the Supreme Court weakened a landmark voting-discrimination law in 2013.

Schwarzenegger said most people call closing poll booths ‘voter suppression’ while others say it is “budgetary” issue. Proposing to fix the problem the former Republican governor asked ‘How much would it cost to reopen polling places?’

According to a report, States with a history of racial discrimination across southern US states have shuttered nearly 1,200 voting locations since 2013, when the Supreme court ruled that states did not need Government’s approval to change their laws.

READ | US Election 2020: Trump And Biden To Face Off In First Presidential Debate On Sept 29

What was the 2013 Supreme Court ruling?

Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, regions with a history of voting discrimination - such as African American or Hispanic voters requiring to pay a poll tax or pass a literacy test - had to first convince the US Justice Department that any election changes they wished to make would not have a discriminatory effect. However, the Supreme Court struck down that portion of the law in 2013.

The report on the closing of polling booths comes as Republican-led states have imposed several new restrictions ranging from shorter voting hours to photo-ID requirements. As the turnout has surged in the recent elections, voters in cities like Phoenix, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia, have waited for long hours to cast their ballots. Seven counties in Georgia now have only one polling booth, the report said.

READ | US Elections 2020: Tax Bombshell, Presidential Debate Prep

The 1965 law covered a number of southern states stretching from Virginia to Texas, along with Arizona, Alaska and a few counties in states like New York, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, South Dakota and California. The high number of poll closures in these regions shows that the Government needs to restore the protections that were previously in place.

Overall, the states formerly covered by the law have shut down at least 1,688 polling places between 2012 and 2018. A total of 1,173 polling booths were closed after the 2014 election following the directions issued by the Supreme Court.  

READ | ​​​​​​​Schwarzenegger: Climate Change Is The Real Pandemic

READ | Arnold Schwarzenegger's Son Joseph Baena Shows Off His Impressive Muscles In Latest Post

(Image credits: AP)