Iran: 46%, Tehran: 27%
Election Participation According to Iran’s Statistical Center - 2008.04.27

Jebhe Mosharekat (Participation Front), the reformist party in Iran that supports former President Mohammad Khatami, has issued a formal protest on the eve of the run off parliamentary elections.
The Front presents the following view about the level of public participation in the elections, “From amongst the 49 million eligible voters above 18 years of age announced by the Iran Statistics Center some 23 million Iranians, i.e. 47 percent, participated in the parliamentary elections of March 2, 2008. This is the lowest level when compared with the eight previous parliamentary elections. Of this amount, 30 percent of the voters came from large cities and provincial capitals while in Tehran which is the political nerve center of the country whose residents demonstrate the most political behavior, the number stood at 27 percent. This disappointing low turnout, despite the participation of all the major effective political groups, is indicative of the public’s discontent with the uncompetitive nature of the elections as devised by official authorities, of the public’s distrust of the effectiveness of their votes and of a serious objection about the conditions prevalent in the ninth administration and seventh Majlis.”
In this report, the Front also expressly accuses the ruling agencies of violations in the competitiveness of the elections and references specific instances of the same. “Political and government resources, including public and government media and the state radio and television network were blatantly used in the most extensive way possible to campaign for the ruling group and the negation of its rivals so as to solidify the position of the list of pre-identified candidates so that even during the election day and through the use of the nation-wide state radio and television network attempts were made to direct the public into a specific direction through short government announcements,” the statement reads.
Furthermore, the Front also points out to the extensive preparations by the conservatists who dominate the government agencies and public offices to illegally intervene in the elections process, but which failed to materialize. “During these elections, in addition to government agencies and public offices affiliated to the ruling group, commanders and the armed forces too openly entered the field in support of the ruling and pro-government groups.”
Regarding the elections violations and rigging, the statement reads, “The integrity of the elections was destroyed during the election day and the counting of votes, including the announcement of the results and the confirmation of the election outcome. In Tehran the removal of more than two thirds of observers affiliated with the rival groups from their task of monitoring the ballot boxes, the removal of even more observers during the ballot counting phase of the elections, the absence of the announcement of the total tally of the votes, the questionable announcement of the total counts in the absence of any verification method, complete disregard for the repeated challenges to the counts and the process and the premature announcement of the election results by the Guardians Council are clear indications of the intention to create confusion and raise serious concerns about the integrity of the elections and the undermining of the results of the elections, particularly in Tehran among the majority of political groups, including the opposition inside the ruling group that supports the ninth administration.”
The statement stresses the point that despite all the preparations, the pre-designation of seats to specific candidates and the illegal interventions in the elections process, the ruling group failed to secure absolute victory for itself in these unfair elections. “Even by the estimates of the Principalists (as the ruling group likes to call itself) themselves not only has the new Majlis not turned into a unified body, one can predict that non of the current groups will have a simple majority in the Majlis even after the 81 remaining seat are settled during the run off elections. And despite the preparations that the Jebhe Motahed Osoolgaran (the United Coalition of Principalists) had made for the creation of a 200 seat parliamentary faction in the Majlis, of the current 209 seats allocated only 105 belong to the Principalists, many of whom are serious critics and opponents of the current administration, while the remaining belong to the reformists or independents.” This state of affairs is nothing other than an indication of the failure of the ruling group to establish the dominant legislative group in the eight Majlis.
The Jebhe Motahed’s statement ends with the message that, “these conditions have come about under circumstances in which reformists entered the elections process with serious handicaps while the majority of the public refrained to fully participate in the elections for many reasons including its disillusionment and perceived ineffectiveness of their participation and the monopolistic practices of the ruling group, even though all political groups called on the public to fully participate in the elections.”
