AP PHOTOS: For the world’s largest democratic exercise, one village’s polling officers are all women

CHEDEMA, India (AP) — The line was orderly at Government Middle School as people waited patiently to vote Friday, even after one of the voting machines malfunctioned.

The officers at the polling station in Chedema village in India’s tiny mountain state of Nagaland had arrived the day before, all of them women on electoral duty for the first time. The four women surveyed the polling station, secured the perimeter and started on the tedious paperwork involved with India’s multiphase national election.

They stopped only for an early dinner, paying heed to the voice of Eholi Jimo, 35, who cooked their meal over an open fire. “Please eat while the food is still hot,” she urged.

The Northern Angami constituency is Nagaland’s first to be solely managed by women polling officers. It was the idea of Kumar Ramnikant, the administrative head of Kohima district, in hopes of breaking job stereotypes.

“If our country needs proper development, then there should be equal contribution from both halves,” Ramnikant said. “Empowerment should not only be at the top level, it should be at the bottom level also. It should be at all layers for real empowerment.”

“Women are more systematic. They take every sentence seriously, whereas men have an easy attitude,” said Zhoto Khamo, an officer who has supervised many elections.

India’s elections that started Friday will finish June 1, with the counting starting on June 4. Each phase is held on a single day, with voting in several constituencies across multiple states. The staggered polling allows the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent violence and transport election officials and voting machines.

Security issues were not a concern at the Chedema polling station as the