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.