RM> Chile's mid-term legislative election this winter was delayed
RM> in many of the 28,523 polling stations when authorities
RM> couldn't find enough citizens willing to serve as inspectors.
RM> Under Chilean law, the first three citizens who turn up to vote
RM> must be appointed as "inspectors", or unofficial poll watchers.
RM> Although such service is officially a sacred civic duty, most
RM> Chileans regard it as a tedious waste of time. In Santiago, for
RM> instance, local media reported that people ran away, hid in
RM> bushes, climbed up poles, locked themselves in bathrooms,
RM> feigned illnesses and insisted they could not read or write to
RM> avoid being pressed into electoral inspection duties. Interior
RM> Minister Carlos Figueroa, who organized the election, was
RM> unable to cast his ballot because his polling station lacked
RM> the required number of inspectors.

 They sound like my kinda people! I bet they all vote *very* late, if
the first three get drafted.

 It was funny in my polling booth on Saturday. They had a lovely
bubbly little girl about eighteen who had appointed herself as an
usher, telling everyone which queue had fewer people waiting! No one
took any notice of her.

 It is my experience that people can pick the shortest queue at a
range of ten miles. It's opne of the life skills we learn on our
mother's knee finding the empty tit.

Regards,
Bob


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