Kenyans went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in a highly anticipated presidential election, as well as dozens of contests for governors, senators, and other positions across the country. The outcome won’t just matter to Kenyans either. The fraught East African region looks to Kenya as a source of stability, so its neighbors are eager to see peaceful results too.
Kenyan elections have a troubled history, but with democracy declining across so much of the globe, Kenya this year stands out as a possible ray of hope.
Local and international media have presented voter turnout as a bad news story because it’s down this year from the last election’s impressive 80%. This reportedly reflects a disenchanted electorate. But the final tally, according to Kenya’s independent election commission, still exceeded 65%. For context, that nearly equals the high-water mark that U.S. turnout reached in 2020. Kenya’s least interested electorate is as engaged as America’s most eager. No one in Kenya takes democracy for granted.
