Nigeria's Volatile Vote

After disastrous regional elections--in which ballot boxes were stuffed and stolen, electoral offices burned down, an estimated 50 people killed and the tallies in two states nullified--it's with understandable trepidation that Nigeria heads into its presidential and parliamentary vote April 21. Three major contenders, above, are vying to become the nation's second democratically elected President: the ruling party's Umaru Yar'adua, opposition leader and current Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari. Political rallies have been banned to stanch the violence this time around, but if one candidate doesn't earn a plurality of the national vote and at least a quarter of the ballots in 24 of 36 states, Nigerians will have to return to the trauma of the polls yet again for a runoff.