Iran – Sham Elections Second Round – No. 5
Polling station managers report lower participation compared to the first round; voting time was extended to facilitate widespread fraud
The regime, having failed to achieve results through calling, threatening, and bribing people to vote, has extended the voting period until 10:00 PM to allow more time for fraud.
In the report from the polling station at Baqiatallah Mosque in Tehran to the Ministry of Interior, it is specified that only a quarter of the ballots have been used, and the “participation rate is lower compared to the first round of elections.”
According to the report from the official in charge of the Bab al-Hawaij polling station in Ardabil to the provincial election headquarters, the participation rate compared to the first round is “very low and weak.”
The official in charge of the Kashani Street polling station in Tehran reported to the Ministry of Interior, stating, “We have had less participation compared to the first round, and we hope it will improve by the end of the night.”
In the report from the manager of the Tehransar Grand Mosque polling station, which has three ballot boxes, it is stated to the election headquarters, “Until now, the level of public participation is lower compared to last week.”
One of the officials from the Mashhad polling stations said that even in border villages, no one has come to vote. Candidates’ agents have gone door-to-door begging for votes. The participation rate in the city of Khaf is much lower than in the parliamentary elections.
One of the regime’s methods for casting fraudulent votes is using national identification codes, where having the national ID number is sufficient to fill out a ballot without needing any other documentation. A large number of these codes are provided to regime operatives at various polling stations to cast ballots in the name of their preferred candidate. Yesterday, Mohsen Eslami, the spokesperson for the regime’s election headquarters, told the regime’s television: “… For old identification cards that don’t have a national ID code, we ask the individual what their national ID code is, and their answer is sufficient…”
Reports from polling stations across the country indicate that until 8:00 PM, voting centers remained empty. In Mashhad, at three polling stations – Imam Mohammad Baqer Mosque, Qasem Abad Street, and Hesabi – there were no voters during the afternoon hours. In Mashhad, regime operatives are harassing people at gas stations, telling them they must vote.
In the Shirabad neighborhood of Zahedan, people drove out officials who had come to collect votes using stones and sticks. In Khash, members of Jalili’s campaign headquarters are distributing sandwiches to invite people to vote. In Khuzestan, the regime has brought Afghan refugees to many polling stations to cast votes.
In Evin Prison, inmates in wards 4, 6, 8, and the women’s ward refused to vote. In Ahvaz, internet lines and Irancell and Hamrah-e Aval mobile networks have been cut off. In some areas of Tehran, new buses are being used as mobile polling stations, but no one is paying attention.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
5 July 2024
