Runoff Parliamentary Vote Held to Elect 10 MPs
TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iranians on Friday cast their ballots in runoff parliamentary elections in which 10 seats are up for grabs.
As part of measures to contain further spread of the novel coronavirus, voters and election organizers were required to wear face masks and hand gloves and refrain from any gathering outside polling stations.
The voting was held in 3,100 polling stations in Alborz, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Golestan, Khuzestan, Ilam, and Zanjan provinces.
Iran’s parliamentary elections were held on February 21, 2020. Over 24 million people took part in the polls with the overall turnout of more than 42 percent.
The elections took 279 lawmakers into the 290-member chamber. The second round to elect the 11 remaining seats was expected to be held in April, but it was postponed until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, one of the candidates in Miyaneh constituency in East Azarbaijan was disqualified.
Now the fate of Miyaneh constituency, along with that of four other seats – whose occupiers have either died of COVID-19 or been disqualified after winning the February votes – will be decided in another round of elections due to be held in 2021 when people will go to ballot boxes for presidential votes.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the runoff parliamentary elections held amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be used to prepare for the next year’s presidential elections.
"If the coronavirus pandemic lingers on, we will have to consider special conditions, reservations, and requirements for the 2021 presidential elections,” Rahmani Fazli told reporters.
As part of measures to contain further spread of the novel coronavirus, voters and election organizers were required to wear face masks and hand gloves and refrain from any gathering outside polling stations.
The voting was held in 3,100 polling stations in Alborz, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Golestan, Khuzestan, Ilam, and Zanjan provinces.
Iran’s parliamentary elections were held on February 21, 2020. Over 24 million people took part in the polls with the overall turnout of more than 42 percent.
The elections took 279 lawmakers into the 290-member chamber. The second round to elect the 11 remaining seats was expected to be held in April, but it was postponed until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, one of the candidates in Miyaneh constituency in East Azarbaijan was disqualified.
Now the fate of Miyaneh constituency, along with that of four other seats – whose occupiers have either died of COVID-19 or been disqualified after winning the February votes – will be decided in another round of elections due to be held in 2021 when people will go to ballot boxes for presidential votes.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the runoff parliamentary elections held amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be used to prepare for the next year’s presidential elections.
"If the coronavirus pandemic lingers on, we will have to consider special conditions, reservations, and requirements for the 2021 presidential elections,” Rahmani Fazli told reporters.