Mutual Consultation or Shura is a part and parcel of nomination of candidates in every democratic process. We have been witnessing this process for the nomination of US presidential candidates for more than a year. In our faith of Islam we have been commanded to make Shura (Mutual Consultation) in every affair of life. It is in this spirit that Election Commission (EC) is instituting a structured format of Shura as a part of nomination process of our elected representatives. We are instituting this methodology at the Zip Code level which is the building block of ISGH system of governance.
On the designated Caucus Day all ISGH members, eligible to vote in 2016, will meet at their respective Islamic Centers in their Zip Code group. The Associate Director of the Islamic Center (IC) in consultation with the Zonal Director will set the time (two hours) and invite all members of his/her IC to the caucus assemblies of all the Zip Codes pertaining to that IC.
The caucus assemblies will establish their own rules of the form of discussion and come to consensus on one or more candidate to represent them as Area Representative(s). Only the members present in the caucus and active in the community should be considered for nomination.
The caucus day will hopefully develop a culture where thoughtful nominations will be made for those candidates who are most qualified, and are active members, to serve the community. This would be an improvement over the past practice where hundreds of nominations are made then hundreds are withdrawn thereby unnecessarily burdening the EC system of processing of information. At the same time many positions go unfulfilled because sufficient consultations between members of the zip code have not occurred.
The zip code caucus assemblies should also consider candidates for At-Large positions and consult with other zip code assembly representatives during the week leading up to the final nomination day.