Six Polling Staff For Malogam Village’s Lone Voter

Itanagar: Malogam village in mountainous Arunachal Pradesh may be just like any other hamlet tucked away in a corner of the Himalayas, but for the Election Commission, Malogam is no ordinary settlement.

By around 9.30am on Thursday, Malogam village in Arunachal’s Anjaw district had reported 100 per cent voter turnout. Its sole voter, Sokela Tayang, 39, arrived in the tin shed that was the village’s makeshift polling station and cast her vote for both the state Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

And for the Election Commission, it took two days to reach this place, bordering China and Myanmar. The commission had sent six officials to register Malogam’s lone vote.

The six-member election team headed by Bam, 34, who usually works as a junior engineer with Arunachal Pradesh’s power department, had set out early on Wednesday morning, first travelling by bus and then on foot. Polling staff who could trek up the hills were selected for the mission.

Before the polling, an official was sent to locate Tayang and inform her about the schedule.

Even though the team had wrapped up work early, the poor mobile network in the area means that the district administration was unable to get in touch with the polling party to establish that. It was only by early evening that the police informed Sode Potom, the assistant returning officer of Hawai and Hayuliang circle under which Malogam falls, that Tayang had cast her vote, news portal The Scroll reported on Friday.

This village had found mention at the Election Commission briefing on Thursday evening.

“Such is the vastness of this country and the unprecedented nature of the election that we cannot say with certainty the overall polling percentage right now. We are awaiting to hear from officials who have crossed mountains, sea and islands to ensure all voters exercise the right to franchise,” said an election official at the briefing.

Asked if one vote was worth the effort, Potom had no hesitation: “We cannot deprive anyone of their voting right, their right to participate in the democratic process, because of their location,” he told Scroll.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the polling station had two voters – Tayang and her husband, Janelum Tayang. But he had since transferred his vote elsewhere.

Even though Tayang had come early, Bam had been instructed to stay at the station till 5pm on Thursday, when the polling hours officially ended. “You cannot switch off the electronic voting machine before 5pm,” said Potom.

This is because candidates contesting elections are allowed to send their representatives, called “polling agents”, to the booths to keep a check on proceedings and ensure no one is allowed to vote multiple times or impersonate another voter. A “vote could be challenged” by an agent.