The Iranian regime’s media outlets are admitting that March 1 elections, which were boycotted by the Iranian people, saw the lowest participation rate in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Moreover, the truth that the participation rate in three consecutive elections fell below 50% in Iran is the first indicator of a legitimacy crisis.
Media outlets and government figures mentioned that there are more than 500,000 invalid votes in Tehran, reflecting the reality of Tehran being the second center with a 40% rate of invalid votes.
Shargh newspaper commented: “The twelfth parliament adopted a strange composition where the deputies decided that the number of hairdressers’ votes did not reach 10,000 votes.”
Javan newspaper, affiliated with the IRGC, wrote on March 4: “Those who did not show up in this field for any reason, including enemy propaganda, sedition, and even internal disagreements, are not few, and serious thought must be given to finding a solution for them.”
Hemayat newspaper wrote on March 4: “The leader’s last words about the elections carried important points, including: ‘If the elections are strong, the elected will be strong… and a strong parliament can do great things.’ However, the future parliament will be much weaker than the current one, as the votes of the elected people do not contain the minimum required from people’s votes. For example, in Tehran, the first person’s votes are about 5% of those eligible to vote, and the thirtieth person’s votes may not even reach 1%.”
This newspaper added: “Neglecting the ballot boxes has reached the point where we saw the lowest number of participants and the lowest vote percentage in the past 45 years. And the truth is that a bad year can be seen from its spring.”
In an article titled, “Three days have passed since the elections; when will the mystery of invalid votes be solved?” Hemayat newspaper reported: “In the 2021 elections, invalid votes won second place. In the last election, the issue of invalid votes has become hot again… and this issue is important because to obtain the real participation rate in the elections, the amount of invalid votes must be deducted from the valid votes. According to participation statistics, the amount of invalid votes is very significant.”
A government official named Saeed Shariati announced that invalid votes in Tehran came in second place with more than 500,000 votes.
Hossein Dehbashi, a government official, wrote: “The coalition of invalid votes – quietly and alone – defeated all political lists!”
Abolfalz Qadyani, the former editorial writer at Kayhan (Khamenei’s exclusive newspaper), said: “About half of the candidates with about 3 to 6 percent! ‘An average of 4.5 percent!’ Qualified votes enter parliament in the first round!”
A government source in Baharnews and a political analyst from Fars province wrote on March 4: “Shiraz entered parliament with 1,390,000 qualified voters, the first representative earned 78,000 votes. In other words, about 95% of the people did not vote for the first person!”
Etemad newspaper wrote on March 4: “The very low number of valid votes and the low number of votes and the percentage of candidates who got the first place in Tehran (compared to the qualified ones) and the high percentage of invalid votes carry deep messages for thought.”
A very large majority of Tehran’s residents withdrew from the elections.
This newspaper also reported: “The Interior Ministry still refuses to announce the participation statistics in Tehran province and Tehran district. According to some people, the participation rate of the bastards in Tehran district is 40%.”
On March 4, Farhikhtegan newspaper wrote: “The turnout rate for the March 1, 2024 elections was 41%, the lowest participation rate in the history of the Islamic Republic… and the fact that 3 consecutive elections witnessed a turnout rate of less than 50% indicates the same meaning anywhere in the world, but in Iran, it has the first meaning, which is ‘legitimacy crisis.’”
Farhikhtegan added: “The March 1 elections were the most unfavorable in front of potential participants… The conditions of these elections were defined in three aspects: society in the worst possible political, economic, and cultural conditions… The events in 2019 and 2022 in the street has never been closed in the political field.”
