Queues at polls

Queues of all sorts fascinate me, and in this season of elections, it is only understandable that they are rampant at polling places. India and Indonesia are having their elections, and so is South Africa. The news from South Africa is that the turnout is massive -- officials are struggling with "angry queues at polling stations and too few ballot papers" [BBC]. The balance between demand and supply is askew and that, of course, is the perfect recipe for queues.

And there's nothing like a good image to tell a story. I love this picture, which I pilfered from the same BBC article: democracy -- or at least one of the steps of modern-day democracy -- expressed by a long, snaking line of people patiently waiting to have their say.