Iran election going to run-off, challenger alleges fraud
Monday, June 20, 2005
Friday's elections whittled Iran's field of presidential candidates from eight to two, but the incredibly close vote has led to the scheduling of an unprecedented runoff to be held next Friday.
Candidates Mahmoud Ahmadizezhad and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will square off next week --- unless candidate Mehdi Karroubi has his way. Karroubi has alleged voting irregularities and has called on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to investigate. Karroubi alleges that members of the unelected Guardian Council and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps conspired to rig votes. These charges were seconded late Saturday by reformist candidate Mostafa Moin, who had been leading in some pre-election polls but placed third in Friday's vote.
First Round Results
editPresidential Candidate | Popular Vote | |
---|---|---|
Count | Percentage | |
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani | 6,159,453 | 21.01% |
Mahmoud Ahmadizehad | 5,710,354 | 19.48% |
Mehdi Karroubi | 5,066,316 | 17.28% |
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 4,075,189 | 13.90% |
Mostafa Moeen | 4,054,304 | 13.83% |
Ali Larijani | 1,740,163 | 5.94% |
Moshen Mehralizadeh | 1,289,323 | 4.40% |
Blank or invalid votes | 1,221,940 | 4.17% |
Total | 29,317,042 | 100% |
- Source:Wikipedia - Iranian Presidential Election, 2005
External links & Sources
editExternal links
editFor an example of the inconsistent vote tallies, see (official Iranian News Agency reports)
- http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0506180698161043.htm (from 16:10)
- http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0506180849181707.htm (from 18:17)
Note that while Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadizezhad won 650,000 votes, the total tally rose only by 350,000.
Sources
edit- Michael Slackman. "Iran Moderate Says Hard-Liners Rigged Election" — New York Times, June 19, 2005