Voting in Iran’s parliamentary elections ended on Friday night, with officials claiming a nationwide turnout of 40.6%, the lowest ever.
Ten hours after voting began, turnout was just 27%, and in Tehran, after eight hours, the turnout was just 12%, but voting unexpectedly continued for two more hours.
Officials had expected the final number to be higher than the 42.5% recorded during the last contest for the seat in 2020, but it fell short.
Due to the extension of the voting period, the number of votes increased rapidly in the second half, bringing the total number of participants to 24,861,542.
The Iranian regime, which hit historic lows in 2020, believes that by showing strong political commitment it can avoid claims that it has lost legitimacy or is unable to meet the basic requirements of the state. A great deal of effort was put into increasing numbers that exceeded voter turnout. Iranian people seek economic development and personal freedom.
Social media opposition to the government showed, although inconclusively, that there were no people near polling stations, but a spokesperson for the Guardian Council, the body that vets candidates, earlier said there were no concerns about the election. He said he expected turnout to reach 2020 levels.
Authorities said voting hours had been extended due to the increase in the number of voters, but rebels said this was a panic move.
Voter turnout in the 2016 election was 62%.
It is a foregone conclusion that increasingly factionalized hardliners will tighten their grip on parliament and the 88-member Council of Experts, which is responsible for appointing the next supreme leader in the event of the death of the incumbent leader.
Many reformists were disqualified from running, making the election a sham in the eyes of many voters who already believed the country was run by the security services and military, not politicians.
The reformist movement has been in steady decline for years and was damaged by former president Hassan Rouhani, who supported him in elections despite not being a reformist. He proved unable to bring about change during two four-year terms, one of which was marred by the coronavirus outbreak that claimed thousands of Iranian lives. became.
As many as 10 million people are eligible to vote in Tehran province, but turnout is likely to be the lowest. Balochistan has been hit by floods and voter turnout is likely to be low.
Rouhani’s successor is Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner and former judge close to the supreme leader who has steered the country toward a more pro-Russian and anti-Western stance.
An internal telephone survey conducted 24 hours before the vote found that three-quarters of the population had no intention of voting, and only 16% were definitely planning to vote. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they would not vote because of their opposition to the Islamic Republic or the lack of free and fair elections.
The challenge for the government in the coming days will be whether to publish accurate turnout results when only about one-third of the population votes and two-thirds stay home and reject the government. . There were concerns on social media that invalid votes would be counted as part of the turnout. The government’s official news agency began removing previously published turnout figures for certain states because the numbers did not rise throughout the day.
In an effort to quell the boycott movement, police in West Azerbaijan state have identified and arrested 50 “virtual page operators” who were “disturbing the people’s minds and calling for non-participation in the elections.” did.
In a sign of continued repression that leaves millions of voters alienated, the regime used voting day to announce that an Iranian court had sentenced Grammy winner Sherbin Hajipour to nearly four years in prison. It was announced that it had been defeated. His song Baraye became his 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protest anthem, with a version performed at a Coldplay concert. He is also ordered to write music critical of the United States.
Hajipour was sentenced to eight months in prison for “propaganda against the regime” and three years for “encouraging and inciting riots among the population in order to disrupt national security.” Hajipour will only serve the longer of two prison sentences.
