Mizoram: EC Team Travels 40 km for a Single Voter; Man Opts for Postal Ballot to Protect Secrecy

Aizawl: In a rare and remarkable incident during the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) elections held on December 3, a single eligible voter in the remote village of Hamawngbuchhuah exercised his franchise through a postal ballot to safeguard his vote’s secrecy.

The lone voter, Lalsangbera, refused to cast his vote via Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), as doing so would have revealed his choice during counting—EVMs display the total votes polled for each candidate at a booth, making it easy to infer his preference in a single-voter scenario.

Election Team Travels 40 km for One Ballot

Longtlai Deputy Commissioner Donny Lalroatsanga informed that a dedicated polling team—including Nodal Officer Lalnunpuia and security personnel—travelled nearly 40 km from Longtlai town to the village to facilitate the postal ballot at Lalsangbera’s residence and ensure complete confidentiality.

Why Postal Ballot Was Necessary

While EVM results are broken down booth-wise and clearly indicate candidate-wise votes, postal ballots are centrally mixed and counted, allowing a solitary voter’s choice to blend into the larger pool, maintaining complete secrecy.

A Village of 389, But Only One Eligible Voter

Hamawngbuchhuah, located near the Myanmar border in Mizoram’s southernmost region, had a population of 389 as per the 2011 Census. The village is largely inhabited by refugees from Myanmar’s southern Chin State, locally known as Zakhai or Rakhine.
Most residents are not eligible to vote due to their refugee status.

During the publication of the draft electoral roll, four individuals sought Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to qualify as voters. However, after scrutiny and objections, only Lalsangbera was accepted as an eligible voter.

Residents Still Labeled as ‘Foreigners’

Around 300 refugees from Paletwa and nearby conflict-hit areas of Myanmar settled in the village after 2017. Although many were repatriated in 2019 following Home Ministry orders, some refused to return despite restored calm. Those who settled before 2017 continue to be viewed as “foreigners” by neighbouring villages, though the state government maintains a status-quo policy regarding their presence.