In today's US election, New York City's ballot papers include four languages in addition to English. One of them is Bengali.
Michael J. Ryan, executive director of the New York City Board of Elections, said the decision to include four different languages in addition to English was based on voters' concerns. These are Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Bengali languages.
New York is home to many different languages. There are about two hundred languages spoken there. Most of them are of Bangladeshi origin. According to 2020 statistics, more than one lakh Bengali-speaking people live there. They live mainly in Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx, New York. Authorities are legally obliged to provide language services at certain polling stations for the convenience of voters.
Bengali has been included in the ballot as part of a larger commitment to reduce language barriers. The issue was first brought to everyone's attention through a case filed in 2013.
The mawla highlights the need for linguistic support in areas where the majority of South Asians reside. In that context, Bengali was included in the ballot paper for the first time in Queens.
New York authorities have taken this decision to include four languages in accordance with the United States Voting Rights Act, 1965. According to that law, members of minority communities are fully entitled to linguistic assistance.
The United States took another step toward ensuring inclusive elections by putting other languages on the ballot, officials said.
Incidentally, there are some differences in the laws and regulations of different states of the country regarding elections. For example, in 2020, keeping in mind the Hindi-speaking voters, Hindi was placed on the ballot in Illinois along with other languages.
In response to a question in this regard in the briefing, Ryan said that Bengali speaking only Bengali was chosen to the exclusion of other Indian languages, Indians who speak other languages may be disappointed. But this decision was not taken to hurt anyone.
Source: Bass
