Iranians voted today to elect deputies for the 8th Majlis.
The interior ministry is reporting that the votes cast today surpassed the figures for 7th Majlis at 8:30pm Iran time. The polls closed at 11:00pm. The turnout for 7th Majlis was reported at 23.7 million.
43 million Iranians were eligible to vote today. Deputy Interior Minister Alireza Afshar had said in Tehran on 10 December that Iranians over 18 years of age (the minimum age for voting) were numbered 43 million out of a population of nearly 70 million.
Based on the figures reported by the interior ministry, it is estimated that some 25 million people have voted in the elections today, indicating a 58% turnout. No independent reports on the turnout were available.
2 comments:
Too bad the voting age was raised from 15 to 18. I always thought that was a noteworthy distinction for the Islamic Republic.
I never knew that fifteen was the voting age in Iran. That's a very progressive idea. Too bad they did raise it. I wonder if voting at fifteen would be a wise idea in America considering the miserable education most American children and young adults receive in public schools and via the American Establishment media. Permitting fifteen year olds to vote illustrates that the Iranians had a lot of confidence in their educational system at one time, it's a pity that's no longer the case or they've changed their minds about that.
Rival [Ali Larijani] wins seat, plays down row with Iran president
By Fredrik Dahl and Hashem Kalantari
15 March 2008
(Reuters) Former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Saturday celebrated winning a seat in Iran's parliament by saying he differed with the president over style not substance and that he would work with the government.
Larijani quit his post last year citing differences with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about how to handle Iran's dispute with the West over its nuclear programme. The president has taken a notably combative line.
Speaking in Qom, the city where he won a seat in Friday's election, Larijani offered to cooperate with the government and said he had no ideological dispute with Ahmadinejad.
"We have no confrontation of any kind with Mr Ahmadinejad and we pursue a path of cooperation between parliament and the government," Larijani told a news conference.
But analysts say the former negotiator is eyeing next year's presidential race after losing to Ahmadinejad in 2005 and could use his role as lawmaker as a springboard for any bid.
Full story Here.
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