Published by The Daily Beast on March 4, 2013

The Kenyan capital of Nairobi was electric this morning well before the sun rose, as voters made their way to neighborhood polling stations in what’s being called the country’s most important election since independence. After the last presidential election in 2007 disintegrated into a deadly dispute, leaving an estimated 1,300 people dead and four prominent Kenyans on trial at the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges—including a top presidential contender and his running mate—Kenyans face a crucial test to try and break out of the cycle of violence that has marred every election since the early 1990s.

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