By Mama A. Touray
Chairman of the independent electoral commission has said that after the local government election the Gambia will migrate from marble to ballot paper in the upcoming elections.
Speaking to the press at stakeholders dialogue, the Chairman of the electoral body , AlieuMomarr Njai said: “Because of the number of political parties we have and what we are expecting I think we are now going to move from marble to the ballot paper after this electoral recycle because if we are to combine two elections in one, how many ballot drums can fit in a polling station”
He pointed out that due to the high cost of ballot drum which is costing D200 and the number of political parties contesting during elections, it would be difficult to purchase ballot boxes for each candidate, while taking reference from other countries that are using ballot paper to conduct their elections instead of drums.
“You imagine 1454 polling stations and where you have 56 candidates and the Ballot drum we contact the candidates and we have to provide the color of the candidate or the party and where you have some many independent candidates it’s really costly,” he concluded.