So we got ourselves a democratic system of government in 1947 and two and a half years later, we became a republic. It was tough, really tough, to become an independent, democratic nation. Sustaining that democracy is even tougher. And the single-biggest symbol of that process is the vote. Every single vote.

We need to make that trip to the booth today, never mind the heat, the lines, the frustration of not finding names on this or that list or the confusion about what identification documents we need to carry along. For a while now, this newspaper has been running a sustained campaign through who we call our election ambassador.