A single vote for election in India comes at the cost of a 300-mile journey by six officers to the remotest jungle terrain

• The Election Commission of India shared a picture of all the six officers who went on a journey to capture one vote.
  
• Six election commission officers traveled 300 miles in the remotest jungle terrains to set up a polling booth for a lone voter in the village of Malogam , Arunachal Pradesh.
  
• It even reached out world’s highest polling station at 15,256 feet in Tashigang village of Himachal Pradesh to approach 49 registered voter.
  
  

The math of democracy in India — which concluded the world’s costliest election — isn’t that simple. From the densest jungles to sweltering deserts, to the world’s highest polling station, it isn’t unusual for election officers to endure the harshest journeys.


The most recent election came at the cost of having six election commission officers travel 300 miles in the remotest jungle terrains to set up a polling booth for a lone voter in the village of Malogam, Arunachal Pradesh.

The Election Commission of India shared a picture of all the six officers who went on this journey to capture one vote out of the 910.1 million votes for the Lok Sabha Election 2019 showing the commitment of government to reach every voter, no matter what it takes.




Sokela Tayang, the lone inhabitant and the only registered voter of Malogam, Arunachal Pradesh, has become a benchmark to every 900 million eligible voters in India who have the right to vote.

During the first phase of Lok Sabha Election 2019, Malogam village in Arunachal Pradesh witnessed 100% voter turnout at 9.30am. Tayang, turned up in the thin shed like polling station to cast his vote for both the general and the assembly election.

The process of voting may not have taken long but it was a difficult task to set up a polling station in a remote place surrounded but jungle and mountains treks. The Malogam village has only one household with five residents including Tayang, according to 2011 Census.

The 300-mile journey to Malogam

Normally, the Election Commission of India assigns random locations to its employees to set up the polling booth. However to set up a polling booth the district, the election officer formed a team of five members who could travel and trek to the hills to set up a polling booth for Tayang.

Tayang was informed about the voting schedule ahead of the polling dates. Even on the polling day it took the team a whole day to inform the assistant returning officer of Hawai and Hayuliang circle about Tayang’s presence on the voting day because of bad reception in the area.

The election commission had to set up polling stations at several other remote places. The EC even reached out world’s highest polling station at 15,256 feet in Tashigang village of Himachal Pradesh to approach 49 registered voters.