This doesn’t seem to have been covered here yet, but last week (March 1) the Islamic Republic of Iran staged another in a series of increasingly fraudulent ‘elections’ to try and bolster their now long past bankrupt claims to any kind of ‘popular’ legitimacy. The Guardian had some insightful analysis on the background leading up to this latest electoral farce:
The Iranian regime had placed great store in boosting turnout above the 2020 figure, a historic low, since it believes a strong show of political engagement would ward off claims it has run out of legitimacy, or is unable to deliver on the basic requirements of the Iranian people for economic progress and personal freedom.
Social media outlets opposed to the regime showed – albeit inconclusively – near empty polling stations, but a spokesperson for the Guardian Council, the body that vets candidates, said earlier there were no problems with the election and turnout would reach 2020 levels.
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Internal phone surveys conducted 24 hours before the poll showed three-quarters of the population did not intend to vote and only 16% were definitely planning to do so. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they would not be voting due to opposition to the Islamic Republic or to the lack of free and fair elections.
A challenge for the regime in the days ahead will surround whether to publish accurate turnout results if they show only about a third of the country voted, and two-thirds rejected the regime by staying at home. Concern was aired on social media that invalid votes would be counted as part of the turnout.
In 2020 the official turnout number was just 42.5% of eligible voters, but for this election the regime couldn’t even meet that pitifully low bar they had set for themselves — claiming a mere 41% turnout rate, of which at least 8% were blank protest ballots — though even that ‘official’ 41% figure was obviously inflated since it included a very large number of blanks (almost certainly more than the 8% of total ballots claimed). As Bloomberg elaborated on the results:
The low turnout reflects a growing sense of apathy for political engagement in the Middle East nation, as many Iranians equate participating in elections with giving a vote of confidence to a government they blame for economic grievances, worsening living conditions, and crackdowns on anti-regime protests. In the capital Tehran, turnout was estimated at just 24%, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, without citing where it obtained the information.
The results affirmed expectations that the next Iranian parliament was shaping up to align closely with the hard-line government of President Ebrahim Raisi, who said without offering evidence that the vote foiled an enemy plot to discourage participation.
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The low turnout reflects a growing sense of apathy for political engagement in the Middle East nation, as many Iranians equate participating in elections with giving a vote of confidence to a government they blame for economic grievances, worsening living conditions, and crackdowns on anti-regime protests.
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The elections also included a vote on the Assembly of Experts. The body, comprised of 88 Islamic jurists elected every eight years, has the authority to select and remove the supreme leader.
Raisi was re-elected to the assembly from the South Khorasan province, while his moderate predecessor, Hassan Rouhani, was barred from seeking re-election to the influential body after serving as a member for more than two decades. Separately, semi-official media reported that former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, was among scores of political figures boycotting the elections.
Likewise, from essanews today:
Abolfazl Hajizadegan, a well-regarded sociologist from Tehran, pointed out, "In the bigger picture, we are witnessing a crisis of representation." He highlighted the broadening voter boycott as an expression of widespread frustration across various socioeconomic classes, underlining a growing disillusionment with professional politicians and established political factions.
Official figures from the Interior Ministry claimed a 41% voter turnout nationwide, with blank ballots making up only 8%—numbers that starkly contrast with the more than 70% turnout for the 2017 presidential elections. Prominent voices, including jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, had urged a boycott, reflecting a deep-seated disenchantment among Iranians who once voted enthusiastically for change-promising candidates.
The election’s aftermath saw Iran’s currency, already under strain from sanctions and corruption, dive further, indicating potential economic hardships ahead. Despite this, senior officials like Khamenei hailed the elections as an "epic" victory, a narrative openly mocked by critics, including former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lamented the disconnection between the government and the populace.
It’s more than a little ironic that while ‘moderate’ or ‘reformist’ candidates have been completely banned from running for office since 2017, now even hard-line political figures like Ahmadinejad who have fallen out of favor with the current regime have also been booted from the ballot. According to wikipedia, Ahmadinejad’s sin may have been his support for Ukraine when it was attacked by Russia two years ago, and his refusal to go along with the other Tehran theocrats in kowtowing to Putin’s Kremlin.