Queens judge orders two South Asian candidates back on ballot, with call for inclusive election law

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Assembly candidate Mary Jobaida. Photo courtesy of Jobaida

Assembly candidate Mary Jobaida. Photo courtesy of Jobaida

By David Brand

A Queens Supreme Court judge ruled Monday that two Queens candidates of Bangladeshi descent will appear on the June 23 primary ballot after the Board of Elections initially kicked them off over differences between their legal and professional names. The BOE’s narrow reading of election law had provoked anger among election reform advocates and South Asian community members.

In an order reinstating Assembly candidate Mary Jobaida and Democratic District Leader candidate Moumita Ahmed, Queens Judge Leonard Livote said the diversity of Queens demands an “expansive view” of name customs.

“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 said, citing case law.

Jobaida has campaigned for state Assembly in District 37 using her personal and professional name, Mary. Her legal name is Meherunnisa. Ahmed, meanwhile, has campaigned for a Democratic district leader position using her personal and professional name, Moumita. Her legal name is Atqiya.

The BOE’s decision to strike two Muslim women of South Asian descent from the ballot on the first day of Ramadan faced sharp criticism. Despite being home to the largest South Asian population in New York, Queens currently has no elected officials of South Asian descent. 

“I was never going to let the BOE get away with this, not on my watch. Not with my community,” said election attorney Ali Najmi, who represented Jobaida and Ahmed. “We’re happy with the judge’s decision as it is in line with Court of Appeals holdings on this matter.”

The BOE pursued a narrow reading of election law, which can prevent people from using nicknames that differ from the names on their birth certificates or voter registrations, Livote ruled. 

But that interpretation should be used to prevent a person from using a nickname like “Grandpa,” not block a candidate who “has sufficiently established that she held herself out both professionally and personally” with “no intent … to mislead signatories,” Livote wrote.

Jobaida is challenging Assemblymember Cathy Nolan, who has served Assembly District 37 in Western Queens since 1985.

Ahmed is running in Northeast Queens’ Assembly District 24 for one of Queens’ 72 Democratic district leader positions — two men and two women representing each of the county’s 18 assembly districts, which are separated into A and B zones.

District leaders are elected to the voluntary office and serve as liaisons between everyday citizens and party chiefs. They vote on party decisions, like who to designate for judicial positions, and they are tasked with running political clubs that have influence in the county party. 

Read the decision in favor of Jobaida: