Iran election: Polls open in parliamentary, key assembly vote
Voters in Iran are heading to the polls to select the members of the country’s legislature. More than 15,000 candidates are vying for a seat in the 290-member parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
How do elections work in Iran?
Every four years, voters go to the polls to select politicians to fill 290 seats in Iran’s parliament, while the selection for the 88 seats in the Assembly of Experts, which is tasked with selecting the supreme leader, is up for grabs every eight years, Al Jazeera reports.
People vote for their districts’ approved candidates, who have already been vetted by the 12-member Guardian Council.
Some seats may require a second round of voting, which takes place at a time agreed upon between the Interior Ministry and the council within one month after the elections.
The council also verifies the final results. Any legislation that clears the parliament has to be approved by the council as well before being sent to the government for implementation.
Khamenei among the first to vote
The supreme leader cast his ballot before a crowd of journalists in Tehran.
He urged people to vote as soon as possible in the election, saying that both Iran’s friends and enemies were watching the turnout.
“Pay attention to this, make friends happy and disappoint the evil-wishers,” he said in brief remarks by the ballot boxes.
He had previously warned that Iran’s “enemies want to see if the people are present”, adding that otherwise “they will threaten your security in one way or another”.
Those watching included the US, “most of the Europeans, evil Zionists, capitalists and big companies”, he said, adding that the US and Israel, which “carefully” follow Iran’s issues, “are afraid of the people’s participation in the elections”.
Economy on mind of voters
As we’ve said, some 61.2 million people are eligible to vote, but voter apathy remains high as the country faces a multitude of challenges following a tumultuous period since the last parliamentary election four years ago.
The polls comes amid mounting economic difficulties and as Iran grapples with the aftershocks of months of mass protests triggered by the 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini.
Iran’s economy has been reeling under crippling sanctions imposed by the United States government over its contested nuclear programme.
Many in the country have been struggling to make ends meet as they grapple with soaring inflation and a record depreciation of the rial against the US dollar.
Assembly of Experts election: Key numbers
Voters are also due to elect the 88-member Assembly of Experts, a key body that appoints the supreme leader, a post held since 1989 by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 84.
A total of 144 candidates have been approved to run for seats in the assembly for an eight-year term.
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