A failed conspiracy to steal a mayoral race uncovers the intricate world of election manipulation at the grassroots level, revealing how such deceit can transcend boundaries. In October 2021, as Election Day loomed in Millbourne, a tiny Philadelphia suburb, Mahabubul Tayub, a mayoral candidate, stumbled upon irregularities in the voter rolls. He noticed numerous new voters registered in recent weeks, some of whom were non-residents of Millbourne. Despite winning the mayoral election that November, Tayub’s discovery unraveled into a startling case of election fraud.
Months later, Md Nurul Hasan, Tayub’s opponent in the 2021 race and vice president of the Millbourne borough council, pleaded guilty to 33 felony charges for orchestrating an elaborate scheme to sway the election results by illegally registering nonresidents as voters and casting mail ballots on their behalf. This incident shed light on the vulnerabilities within local electoral processes and raised concerns about fraudulent activities impacting communities.
The unfolding saga serves as a stark reminder amidst ongoing debates over election security and voter fraud across the nation. It underlines both the plausibility of electoral malpractice at localized levels despite existing safeguards and the challenges associated with executing such misconduct on a larger scale without detection.
Jim Allen, Delaware County elections director emphasized that such fraudulent incidents often surface more prominently in small jurisdictions like Millbourne due to lower voter turnout rates and direct connections between wrongdoers and beneficiaries. These circumstances create fertile ground for illicit activities where risks are high while temptations abound.
Millbourne: A Microcosm of Diversity and Change
Nestled at Delaware County’s eastern fringe adjacent to Philadelphia lies Millbourne—a minuscule borough spanning less than 50 acres with around 1,200 residents. Established on land once owned by English immigrants from Derbyshire named Sellers who operated Millbourne Mills—a flour mill tracing its name to nearby Mill Creek—now known as Cobb’s Creek delineating Delaware County from Philadelphia.
Despite its modest size, demographic shifts have been seismic in recent decades transforming this once predominantly white enclave (over 90% white in 1980 per U.S. Census Bureau) into a majority Asian community by 2020 fueled by immigrant influxes from South Asia particularly India and Bangladesh.
Over time Market Street—the borough’s central artery—has evolved into a vibrant hub adorned with South Asian marketplaces retailing Indian-Bangladeshi-Pakistani wares echoing cultural fusion. Notably Sellers Avenue was christened Bangladesh Avenue symbolizing Bangladeshi residents’ escalating economic-political influence celebrated by locals as an affirmation of their ascendancy.
Tayub-Hassan Friendship Turned Rivalry
Mahabubul Tayub hails from Chittagong—a coastal Bangladeshi city—possessing an economics degree from its university migrated stateside settling initially in Philadelphia then relocating to Millbourne early millennium whilst Md Nurul Hasan also originating from Chittagong fostered acquaintance with Tayub during their shared residency prompting cordial ties among peers cementing their political aspirations within Democratic circles culminating in successful council bids back in 2015.
Following Tom Kramer—the former mayor’s—decision against contesting re-election come springtime ’21; Tayub entered the fray backed by Kramer meanwhile Hasan threw his hat propelling what seemed like friendly competition poised for historic significance as either victor would clinch fame being potentially crowned first Bangladesh-born American town mayor resonating profoundly back home garnering substantial media coverage abroad.
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