Habib:
Like you said, using marbles to vote is seriously antiquated and fraught with
possible leeway for electoral malpractice.  In fact, last night, I had an
interesting conversation with a friend of mine about the advantages and
disadvantages of voters using marbles as their ballots.  Someone correct me
if I am wrong, but the Wollof phrase; " Sani Carta" literally means to cast
one's card.  Even some of our local languages took into account the concept
of using a card and not a marble to vote.

I am not that familiar with the voting process because I have never voted
back home before.  Maybe someone like Lamin Manneh can help us explain the
intricacies of the voting system to us (i.e., how the ballot boxes are
designed and possibility of fraud using marbles with such boxes).
Nevertheless, I really think that the marble method just shows that our
supposed democratic system trivializes the worth of one's vote.  A more
substantive method of voting is required.  For example, I would be much more
comfortable if the process of choosing a candidate was a bit more interactive
(i.e. a process whereby the voter uses a punch card or simply puts an "X" by
the picture of the candidate they want to cast they vote for), I believe more
weight would be added to the voters choice.

Furthermore, why on Earth do we have to order 1.5 Mil marbles from Taiwan
when we can print out the cards in Banjul under the watchful eye of other
Opposition parties?  Our country only has about .5 Mil eligible voters yet we
order that many marbles form Taiwan.  Why?

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