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Every Vote Counts
Niha Masih/The Washington Post via Getty Images (Poll Workers); Niha Masih/The Washington Post via Getty Images (Sokela Tayang)
Poll workers in India traveled for four days to ensure Sokela Tayang (inset) could vote close to home.
Jim McMahon
In a democracy, every adult is entitled to a vote—so officials in a country as large as India often have to go to extremes to ensure that all citizens get a say. During the country’s recent election, polling officers traveled more than 300 miles to set up a voting station for one woman in a remote village called Malogam. India’s laws say no one should have to travel more than 1.24 miles to vote; in the past, teams have trekked through jungles, swamps, and mountains to get to voters. This time, the journey took four days round-trip—even though the woman, Sokela Tayang, needed less than two minutes to cast her ballot. Officials are proud of their commitment to voters, even though it takes a lot of work. “We want to make elections as participative as possible,” Ashok Lavasa, an election commissioner, told The Washington Post. “This is a manifestation of democracy’s deep roots in India.”