Ballot Counting Steps City Hall Bamako Wet Season

Bright tropical light floods the wide stone steps of City Hall in Bamako, illuminating a civic counting operation underway during the wet season. Sealed white bins sit in neat rows alongside scattered paper leaflets that curl and stir in sudden gusts of wind. Wooden pencils and ceramic coffee cups rest on the damp gray stone, their surfaces reflecting the harsh overhead sun. The architecture features broad colonnades and heavy concrete pillars that frame the activity. People stand in groups, their shadows stretching sharply across the wet pavement. A stack of official documents leans against a bin, its edges fluttering as a breeze catches the paper. at the edge is a single coffee stain darkening the porous texture of the stone near a boot heel.