US election: Bangla language in New York ballot paper

New York City is home to many different languages. There are about two hundred languages ​​spoken there. According to 2020 statistics, more than 1 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. In this year's US presidential election, the New York City ballot paper has included 4 languages ​​in addition to English. One of them is Bengali.

Michael J. Ryan, Executive Director of the New York City Election Board, said, "In consideration of the voters, it was decided to include 4 different languages ​​in addition to English. These are Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Bengali languages.

There is also a legal obligation to use Bengali on the ballot in New York City. There was a case about the use of Bengali language. As a compromise of that case, the use of the languages ​​of the Asian region was made compulsory in certain areas inhabited by certain populations. Later, through discussion, the issue of using Bengali language was decided. New York City started using Bengali language on the ballot 2 years after the order of the federal government.

The United States took another step toward ensuring inclusive elections by putting other languages ​​on the ballot, officials said. There are some differences in the laws and rules regarding elections in different states of the country. 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 related to this in the briefing, Ryan said, 'People speaking hindi may be disheartened by choosing only Bengali to the exclusion of other Indian languages. But this decision was not taken to hurt anyone.