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WDET: Hamtramck Ramps Up Efforts to Reach Bangladeshi Voters During Elections

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The City of Hamtramck says it’s working to reach its Bangladeshi voters, but community leaders and voters say there is more work to be done even a decade after the city began providing the ballots in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. CREDIT: NARGIS HAKIM RAHMAN/WDET

By Nargis Hakim Rahman/WDET

As voters walk into the Hamtramck Community Center, Ali Newaz greets voters and directs them to one of three precincts. He smiles behind his mask. He’s wearing a bright orange sign on his multicolored windbreaker that reads “I speak Bangla.”

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In June, the city of Hamtramck was sued by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of the grassroots community organization Detroit Action and Rahima Begum, a Bangladeshi voter who wasn’t able to cast a Bangla ballot in the 2020 elections.

Laura Misumi was the Managing Director at Detroit Action earlier this year when the suit was filed. She says community organizers notified the city that Bangladeshi voters were not receiving proper assistance at the polls.

Laura Misumi was the Managing Director at Detroit Action earlier this year when the suit was filed. She says community organizers notified the city that Bangladeshi voters were not receiving proper assistance at the polls.

“We then reached out to AALDEF, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, about the possibility of trying to find a language access voting rights lawsuit against the city of Hamtramck for failure to provide this language access,” she says.

The lawsuit states only Republican ballots were available to voters during the presidential primary and Democratic ballots were buried under other materials, there wasn’t signage providing information in Bangla as required by the Voting Rights Act, and poll workers weren’t trained to ask Bangladeshi voters if they’d like to vote in Bangla.

The judge passed a consent decree in July requiring Hamtramck to beef up its efforts. Part of the decree requires all election materials to be translated into Bangla, the city has to hire a Bengali election coordinator, and officials have to work with a community advisory committee.