Iran election draws conservatives: 'God, please accept this vote from me'
State TV reported a turnout of 64.6 percent in Iran's election today, the first since the 2009 poll that led to a crisis of legitimacy for the regime. Leaders said it was a 'religious duty' to vote.
Iranians queue to cast their ballot for the parliamentary elections at Masoumeh shrine in the city of Qom, 78 miles south of the Tehran, Iran, Friday.
Kamran Jebreili/AP
Istanbul, Turkey
Iranian state media has declared a heavy turnout in parliamentary elections, in line with assertions by top officials that mass participation would "smack the face" of Iran's enemies.
State-run PressTV reported that 64.6 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots one hour before polls closed. Officials extended voting by four hours to 10 p.m. local time, to accommodate large numbers, they said, and PressTV stated that "most provinces requested more ballot papers."
Despite those figures, there was also widespread anecdotal evidence that an opposition boycott kept many reform-minded voters at home – especially in big cities like Tehran.
If true, the 64.6 percent figure is several points above the last parliamentary election, in 2008 – and is meant by Iran's conservative leaders to remove the stain of the 2009 presidential race and its violent aftermath.
Iranians in the capital said voting day looked like many before it, with sparse turnout in wealthier northern parts of the city, and polling stations in the more conservative center and south crowded with those more likely to heed the words of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that voting was a "religious duty."
"To me it was like a typical election, and I've seen many of them," said an Iranian analyst who visited a number of stations throughout the day.
Page 1 of 4
