Dídac Medrano | Photojournalist

Around the world, we find a great variety of ways to choose political representatives. The most widespread of all is, without a doubt, the one that consists of depositing a ballot in a ballot box. However, around the world we come across some very different ones. One of them is found in The Gambia, a former English colony with more than half a century of independence, where marbles are used to vote.

This unique way of voting was introduced as a result of the country’s independence, in 1965, by the English colonial authorities. Given the low literacy rate at that time, it was decided to introduce an easy way to vote, without complicated procedures. Since then, 57 years ago, this is how Gambians exercise their right to vote. Some were the voices that suggested a possible passage to the ballots, but for now voting continues in this unusual way. On April 9th, 2022, Gambians voted for their National Assembly representatives in an election clearly influenced by Ramadan, as not many people showed up to the polling stations.

The pictures you will see in this article have been mostly taken around Brufut area, nearby southern shore Serekunda, in the west part of the country.

That’s the story of one of the most peculiar elections that I have ever witnessed.