In a message dated 7/12/00 10:37:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > f the boxes were > tampered with by unknown individuals this will be detected immediately by > counting agents and PIEC official because the seals will be broken or the > numbers will defer. Remember these seals were manufactured in Canada and had > serial numbers known only to the polling agents and presiding officer.(NB This is not fraud prove. I remember during the referendum we had the same make of seals. These materials [seals] are prone to breaking during transportation from polling stations to counting centers. The P.I.E.C even went to the extent of proving forms to record any such incident. Therefore Mr. manneh's assertion that this mechanism could be in any way a deterrent to rigging wouldn't stand the test of time.iam not in anyway or by any means trying to diminish the diligence of the P.I.E.C. Like Mr. manneh I worked for this organization up until after the referendum. I have witness events during the referendum which if allowed during the subsequent elections could alter the results altogether. I served as a senior registration officer in L.R.D and later as an assistant returning officer in the same locality during the referendum. As an assistant returning officer in charge of twelve polling stations ...you would expect me to be in charge of the ballot boxes until they are counted per P.I.E.C regulations.but this was not the case.As soon as I collected all the ballot boxes from the various polling stations I was asked by the officer commanding mansakonko... one Mr. Mbaye [if my memory serve me right] to leave the premises. I tried to resist but had to give in since my fellow AROs are heeding his command. His explanation for this actions is that...those are orders from headquarters. He refused to relent even after the P.I.E.C commissioner for L.R.D intervened. I was awakened from bed three hours later to come and witness the counting of votes. This was not an easy task since the presiding officers and there staff [the people on the ground were not allowed to attend].Most of the tamper prove seals were broken during transportation Heated debates ensued since my colleagues and I..after been sent away were asked to explain the discrepancies in the token counts in contrast to the amount given out to each polling station. In the whole of Jarra west only one polling stations vote count equal the amount of token given out to the officials...thats was the station in Kani kunda.Mr Roberts infact refused to announce the results for most of L.R.D for almost four hours due to numerous discrepancies we encountered in tallying tokens assigned and tokens we finally have at counting. he finally announced the results....the common guy on the street would have no knowledge of these discrepancies. i was not in the country during the subsequent election, but my gut feeling is.. if the above scenario was evident then rigging the elections would be a piece of cake for anybody in charge of the state machinery. looking forward to hear your comments on this one. Regards, ousman ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------