On 9 January 2011, thousands formed voting queues in Juba as Southern Sudan's self-determination referendum began. Contemporary reporting by Sudan Tribune described long lines before polling stations opened. The ballot asked whether the south should separate from Sudan.
This was not an isolated election day. The referendum was a negotiated step in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a long civil war. Voters moved individually through identity checks and the ballot procedure.
The line ended not at a shop or service counter but at a choice about a country's boundary. Because South Sudan later became independent, it is easy to read the result backward into the scene. On that morning, however, people were still placing votes, one by one, into an undecided future.