Internet blackout as Gambians vote for president

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh faces the biggest threat to his 22-year rule as the 880,000 Gambians eligible to vote went to the polls following two weeks of unprecedented rallies by an energised opposition. The country’s 1,400 polling stations opened at 08:00 GMT on Thursday for an election overshadowed by an internet blackout, a protest ban […]

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh faces the biggest threat to his 22-year rule as the 880,000 Gambians eligible to vote went to the polls following two weeks of unprecedented rallies by an energised opposition.

The country’s 1,400 polling stations opened at 08:00 GMT on Thursday for an election overshadowed by an internet blackout, a protest ban and accusations of vote rigging.

The winner will serve a five-year term in Gambia, a tiny former British colony in west Africa that occupies a narrow sliver of land surrounded by French-speaking Senegal.

Jammeh is running for a fifth term in office with his ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).

The Gambia has a unique way of voting for the president. Instead of using ballot papers, voters put a marble into a coloured drum for their candidate. The system is aimed at tackling illiteracy and preventing rigging.