Iran's interior minister speaks to WION on voter turnout expectations and preparations in second round
Iranians walk in a street in the capital Tehran on June 29, 2024
The Iranian Ministry of Interior said that voting stations in Iran opened at 08:00 am (0430 GMT) Friday for a snap presidential election, following the death of president Ebrahim Raisi. In a televised address, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that "we start the elections" for the country's 14th presidential elections.
The Iranian Ministry of Interior is the responsible ministry for conducting elections. WION asked Vahidi whether or not he expected more turnout for the second round and how prepared is his ministry.
Vahidi said, "We should wait, because of our frequent elections, our people have been engaged in these elections for a while. School students and university students have had their exams, this time (the current one), is for exams. This is also the time for vacations."
"But regardless of these issues, people have come out to vote. Our kind people always come to vote and we should wait for them to do the same during the second round," Vahidi added.
An official said on Saturday (Jun 29) that Iran's sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and another candidate Saeed Jalili have qualified for a runoff presidential election after leading in the first round.
A spokesperson of Iran's election authority said that Pezeshkian got more than 10,400,000 votes and Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, has more than 9,400,000, said Mohsen Eslami. Only one has led to runoffs in 2005 out of Iran's 13 previous presidential elections since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
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Eslami told a press conference that "none of the candidates could garner the absolute majority of the votes, therefore, the first and second contenders who got the most votes will be referred" for the second round, scheduled for next Friday.
He added that out of around 61 million eligible voters, some 24,500,000 voters headed to the polls. The spokesperson added with a turnout of around 40 per cent, it is the lowest yet in the history of the Islamic Republic.
(With inputs from agencies)