Iranians cast their votes in the legislative elections at a voting center in Tehran (Anatolia)

Unofficial reports on Saturday estimated the participation rate in the Iranian legislative elections at about 40%, amid anticipation for the Ministry of Interior to announce the official participation rate.

Official polls indicated that only about 41% of Iranians who have the right to vote would participate.

More than 61 million Iranians were invited to cast their votes in about 60,000 polling stations to choose members of the Shura Council and the Leadership Council of Experts.

For its part, Hamshahri newspaper said that more than 25 million people, or 41% of the total number of voters, participated in the elections.

Hamshahri described the turnout for the elections yesterday, Friday, as a “slap of 25 million” to calls to boycott the elections, in a headline on the front page next to a picture of a ballot paper slapping US President Joe Biden in the face.

The reformists retreated

The participation rate in the parliamentary elections in 2020 fell to a record level of 42.5%, while about 62% of voters participated in 2016.

It is also expected that these elections will confirm the decline of the reformist and moderate camp since the 2020 elections. This camp only hopes to win some seats after the Guardian Council excluded a large number of its candidates.

The conservatives are also expected to strengthen their control over the Leadership Council of Experts, a body composed of 88 members of the clergy elected for a term of 8 years by direct universal suffrage, which selects the new supreme leader and supervises his work and the possibility of his removal.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Iranians last Wednesday - the last day of the election campaign - to vote massively.

Khamenei considered that strong participation in the elections is a guarantor of national security, noting that "if the enemy sees weakness in the Iranians in the field of national strength in various aspects, it will threaten national security."

Source: Agencies