According to unofficial data The participation rate was about 40 percentThis is the lowest level since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The participation rate reached 42.5 percent in the 2020 elections, and 62 percent in 2016. The decline in voter turnout was particularly noticeable in major cities, including the capital, Tehran, where the turnout rate reached, according to unofficial figures , 20-30 percent.
The Interior Ministry promised official participation numbers for Saturday.
The opposition called on citizens to boycott the electionsSo it happened mainly between hardliners and moderate conservatives who accepted Islamic revolutionary ideas. Activist Narges Mohammadi, who has been imprisoned since 2021, also called for people to stay at home, describing the elections as a farce.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency, 61.17 million Iranians have the right to vote, 50.5 percent of whom are men. The Guardian Council, which guards the Islamic nature of the state, approved 5,000 candidates for the parliamentary elections (290 of whom will be deputies). 144 people are competing for the 88 seats in the Assembly of Experts, the body that appoints the country's highest religious and political leader. The country's supreme political and religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is 84 years old.
Electronic voting was conducted in four electoral districts out of 1,218. There were 59 thousand polling stations in the country.
Cover image source: Mortada Nikoubazel/Noor Photo via Getty Images
