Mary Jobaida (Mary for Assembly)
May 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Two Bangladeshi women are back on the ballot in an upcoming Queens primary after a judge ruled against the Board of Elections’ (BOE) decision to remove them for technicalities last week.
On Monday, Queens Supreme Court Judge Leonard Livote ordered Mary Jobaida, who hopes to unseat Cathy Nolan in Assembly District 37, and Moumita Ahmed, who is vying to be the Democratic district leader in Assembly District 24, to appear on their respective June 23 ballots.
The BOE had knocked the candidates off the ballot over discrepancies in their names.
The Board ruled that the name each had filed to run on didn’t match the name they are registered to vote with.
For instance, Jobaida is registered to vote under her legal name “Meherunnisa,” but filed her petition to appear on the ballot with her nickname “Mary.”
Likewise, Ahmed has campaigned for the Democratic district leader position under her personal name “Moumita,” but had registered to vote under her legal name “Atqiya.”
Many said the BOE’s ruling was xenophobic — a move to keep two Bangladeshi Muslim women out of office.
Judge Livote called the BOE’s ruling “impermissibly narrow.”
He noted previous cases where a candidate named “Michael” was allowed to run under “Mike” and another candidate named “Martin” was allowed to run under “Marty.”
Moumita Ahmed pictured center (Moumita Ahmed for District Leader)
Supporters said the Board used cultural differences with each woman’s name to get rid of them. The Queens Democratic Socialists called the move “despicable and racist.”
Judge Livote said the diversity of Queens calls for a wider view of the name requirements and what constitutes a nickname.
“In a county as diverse as Queens, with many exotic and unfamiliar names, an expansive view must be taken of what is familiar or diminutive,” Livote wrote. “Thus, the position taken by the Board is impermissibly narrow.”
Both women will appear on the ballot on June 23 under their personal names.
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9 Comments
@Hashtagger posing as Dave- All voter fraud in US is Democrat. Fact! Propaganda still have you in its grip? Take control and learn about propaganda techniques. CNN did and look how rich it’s made them.
To get elected you need a name and a face recognition. Name and face recognition require political campaigns and publicity. Political campaigns and publicity are very expensive and costly. The trick to get all that for free is to create contraversy that can be attributed to “bigotry” and “racism”. 90% of elected Islamists in the US diabolically exploited this trick. It pays, the proof is loud and clear.
@Hashtagger posing as Dave- All voter fraud in US is Republican. Fact! Propaganda still have you in its grip? Take control and learn about propaganda techniques. Fox did and look how rich it’s made them.
The Judge’s openion is absurd. All over the world, 99% of the Michaels are also commonly known or nicknamed as Mikes and 99% of the Martins are also commonly known or nicknamed as Martys. However, it is not a culturally Bangladeshi to give the nick name Jubaida to Meherunnisa, nor the nickname Atqiya to Moumita. This has nothing to do with culture. This is called Islamists probing the system and challenging the system to cause it to succumb to their hegemony.
The Judge’s openion is absurd. All over the world, 99% of the Michaels are also commonly known or nicknamed as Mikes and 99% of the Martins are also commonly known or nicknamed as Martys. However, it is not a culturally Bangladeshi to give the nick name Jubaida to Meherunnisa, nor Atqiya Moumita. This has nothing to do with culture. This is called Islamusts probing the system and challenging the system to cause it to succumb to their hegemony.
This is how Democrats can vote multiple times as authentic names mean little.
The race card. It works every time.
Now who out there wants to vote for a pair of imbeciles who can’t follow simple instructions?
Unfortunately, probably a lot.
This pandemic is a the racists opportunity of a lifetime. Bias crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise in NYC. We need more officials and leader to put an end to it. Thank you Judge Leonard Livote .
Next time I file taxes I’ll do it with another name. Same with at DMV and insurance.
If anyone disagrees, the Judges would favor me because the law is impemissibly narrow and I’m from Queens which is diverse as my identity.