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

(Source: "Comic Relief", June 1998)

--- PPoint 1.88