Election coming up on Tuesday

By Charles Sercombe
Get ready to cast your vote.
Hamtramck’s primary election is next Tuesday (Aug. 6).
The only item on the ballot is the race for city council. There are nine candidates vying to be the top six vote-getters to square off in the November General Election.
The, in the November election, the top three vote-getters will serve four-year terms, starting next January.
You can vote for three candidates in Tuesday’s election.
Three incumbent councilmembers are seeking re-election, and they are: Anam Miah, Abu Musa and Saad Almasmari.
They are being challenged by: Robert Zwolak, Nayeem Choudhury, Carrie Beth Lasley, Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Alsomiri and Justin Jessop.
Some of the challengers’ names should be familiar to voters.
Zwolak is a former city clerk for Hamtramck, and has also served before on city council. Hassan is also a former councilmember.
Both Choudhury and Alsomiri have run before for council. Alsomiri is renovating the former Shopper’s World building on Jos. Campau and Yemans.
This year, the election laws have changed. If you are an unregistered voter, you can now still register on election day and then cast your vote.
You must be at least 18 years old to vote, and if you wish to vote in Hamtramck, you must be a resident.
Also, you can vote by absentee ballot now, without stating a reason. Voting by AV ballot used to be reserved for those who were seniors, or those who were unable to get to a precinct to vote.
So far, 956 absentee ballots have been mailed out, which City Clerk August Gitschlag said is about average.
Since June 1, some 261 new voters have been registered, which again Gitschlag said is par for the course.
He figures about 80 of those voters were inspired to register because of this election.
There are about 9,000 registered voters in Hamtramck, and in the past few years about half, or nearly so, of them have actually gone on to vote.

Aug. 2, 2019

2 Responses to Election coming up on Tuesday

  1. Fatema Hossain

    August 3, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    It is imperative that all registered voters in the City of Hamtramck get out and go vote after many in the Yemeni and Bangladeshi-American communities had been intimidated from voting in November of 2017 due to the highly-publicized Michigan State Police “vote fraud” investigation.

    It is also imperative that all qualified residents make an attempt to get registered to vote if they are not so registered.

  2. Dennis Nowak

    August 4, 2019 at 3:21 pm

    I hope that residents take the time to vote and vote for the most experienced candidates.

    I wish Bob Zwolak were elected and be sent back to City Council – his vast experience and knowledge of the city and governmental operations is unparalleled. This man still appears at virtually all council meetings.

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