{"id":13132,"date":"2024-03-12T20:56:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T20:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=13132"},"modified":"2024-03-12T20:56:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T20:56:38","slug":"record-low-turnout-in-iran-as-voters-lose-faith-in-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=13132","title":{"rendered":"Record Low Turnout in Iran as Voters Lose Faith in Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“Iranians went to the polls…\u2014or didn’t\u2014for the first time since a women-led uprising against religious rule rocked the nation. Authorities reported a record-low turnout of 27 percent<\/a>, even after they extended voting for an additional two hours, amidst widespread disillusionment and calls for an election boycott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country had suffered months of unrest<\/a> following thedeath of Mahsa Amini,<\/a> who was arrested for not complying with the country’s mandatory hijab rule in September 2022.<\/strong> Although the streets have calmed down, it was the most significant challenge to the Islamic Republic yet.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has had a mix of democratic and theocratic institutions. Election turnout has rarely fallen below 50 percent and has sometimes reached as high as<\/a> 70 percent. Iranian “leaders crave constantly high turnout as evidence of the people’s love of the revolution, but\u2026loathe the results that high turnout always brings,” in the words<\/a> of political scientist Shervin Malekzadeh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few years, the government has dropped the pretense of caring. During protests in November 2019, authorities launched a crackdown that killed hundreds of people<\/a>, then banned thousands of candidates<\/a> from the February 2020 parliamentary election. A record low 42 percent of voters turned out that year, a result that the Iranian government blamed on coronavirus and “negative propaganda<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Hassan Rouhani, who was President of Iran during the November 2019 crackdown, has been banned from running<\/a> for office. He joins a long list of elected Iranian leaders who have outlived their usefulness to the system, including former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad<\/a>, who was in office during the 2009 protest wave and crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmadinejad and Rouhani have both refashioned themselves as dissidents.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Record Low Turnout in Iran as Voters Lose Faith in Elections<\/a><\/blockquote>