The marble democracy
Nov. 28th, 2011 09:02 pmGambians go to the polls with marbles
The tiny West African state of Gambia went to the polls on Thursday anticipated to hand a fourth term to the country's eccentric president who claims he can cure Aids with a herbal body rub.

But that wasn't the cherry of the pie. It was the way the Gambians voted.
...They tossed marbles into the ballot buckets.
Gambia's presidential poll begins with the clinking of marbles
It would be any schoolboy’s dream: hundreds of thousands of clinking glass marbles at the ready for a high-stakes contest. But this is no game, it is Gambia’s presidential poll and the marble is the ballot.

The marbles:

The ballot-boxes:

Counting the ballots:

The tiny West African state of Gambia went to the polls on Thursday anticipated to hand a fourth term to the country's eccentric president who claims he can cure Aids with a herbal body rub.

But that wasn't the cherry of the pie. It was the way the Gambians voted.
...They tossed marbles into the ballot buckets.
Gambia's presidential poll begins with the clinking of marbles
It would be any schoolboy’s dream: hundreds of thousands of clinking glass marbles at the ready for a high-stakes contest. But this is no game, it is Gambia’s presidential poll and the marble is the ballot.

The marbles:

The ballot-boxes:

Counting the ballots:
