
The unique voting system was introduced in the early 1960's to address the high level of illiteracy in the country.

Each party competing in the election has a drum painted with its own identifying colors and their party symbol.

Voters are issued a marble each, then proceed to the polling booth to vote.

This system of voting was introduced to assure transparency.

When a marble is dropped into the drum, it hits a bell which indicates a vote has just been cast. To prevent other sounds the drum has saw dust or sand inside.

The system allows counting officials quickly ascertain the number of votes cast in each drum.

More than 880,000 voters are expected to cast their ballots when this tiny west African nation goes to the polls.

Counting is snappy as the marbles are poured from the ballot drum into a wooden tray with 200 or 500 holes.

