Press Release from BALA Chief Election Commissioner

Press Release from BALA Chief Election Commissioner
October 3, 2008
Over the past few days, there has been a controversy surrounding nominations for BALA Elections 2008. As the just-resigned Chief Election Commissioner, I am issuing the following statement to help clear this controversy.
As announced earlier, the deadline for submitting nominations for the 17 positions of the Executive Committee was set for September 25, 2008. Candidates were requested to mail nominations by midnight of September 25. At a Town Hall Meeting in the valley on Sunday, September 21, a few Election Commissioners and Advisors suggested another means of collecting nominations to make it convenient for candidates. It was agreed that nominations would be accepted in-person (in addition to mailing) at Shatto Recreation Center (which was later moved to Taurat Restaurant at 101 S. Vermont) between the hours of 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM. A few Election Commissioners would be present at Taurat to accept nominations.
During the last two weeks, requests were made to extend the nomination deadline. The reason for these requests was the holy month of Ramadan when people were fasting and attending special prayers which, according to those who requested extension, made it difficult to prepare the paperwork for nominations. I did not see any genuine reasons for an extension and stated so publicly. When more requests came to consider an extension, I asked all Election Commissioners on September 25 of their opinions. Six Election Commissioners (Mr. Jashim Ahmed, Mr. Saad Chowdhury, Dr. Toufique Choudhury, Mr. Rezaur Rahman “Mitu”, Mr. Ferdous “Munna”, and Mr. Mustafizur Rahman “Tufan”) agreed to extend the deadline. Two Election Commissioners (Mr. Syed Abed “Nipu” and Mohammad Alam “Khokon”) did not agree to an extension. One Commissioner (Mr. Safar Mansoor “Tarek”) could not be contacted. I remained neutral on the day of September 25, though I opposed an extension in the past. When I knew that a majority of Election Commissioners (six out of nine) were in favor of an extension, I agreed to extend the nomination deadline and communicated that to all Election Commissioners around 9:40 PM, ahead of the mid-night deadline.
According to the Constitution of Bangladesh Association of Los Angeles (Clause 30, page 9), the Election Commission is assigned the responsibility of setting rules for election, including various dates. Clause 30 specifically states “The Election Commission will set various rules for the election including the various dates for the entire process.” This Clause is not subject to different interpretations by different individuals. It has only one interpretation: the Election Commission is the sole authority to set the dates for the election process. Until and unless the Constitution is officially changed, the authority of the Election Commission remains unquestionable.
At a meeting of Election Commissioners on Sunday, September 28, attended by nine Election Commissioners (including a newly appointed replacement Election Commissioner, Mr. Masud Chowdhury), we came to know that a few irregularities occurred during in-person submission of nominations. Nominations were not submitted in sealed envelopes and some information on submitted nominations was disclosed to those present at the site. These are serious violations of any nomination procedure and could be used as grounds for invalidating those nominations. I received only one nomination by mail. It was post-marked September 24. I did not open that envelope. Nomination procedure requires that all nominations be opened in presence of all or a quorum of Election Commissioners.
The Election Commission has always held the view that BALA election should be “inclusive” rather than “exclusive”. We wanted more participation rather than less participation. To that end, we relaxed the voter registration requirements and simplified the process of registration. Though we initially wanted all registration by mail, we agreed to hold a mass voter registration day on October 19 at Shatto Recreation Center where people could come in person for registration during the hours of 12:00 noon and 6:00 PM. We reduced the number of required documents for voter registration. These steps were taken to make it easy for all Bangladeshis and Bangladeshi-Americans to participate in the coming election. The nomination deadline was extended in the same spirit so that more people could contest for the various positions.
The extension of the nomination deadline was done legally and according to the BALA Constitution. I hope that our community will understand the rationale behind the extension and will evaluate the actions of the Election Commission as objectively as possible.