Iran‘s presidential election is leading to a runoff between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili, according to an official announcement on Saturday.
The initial vote did not produce an outright winner, necessitating this additional round which is scheduled for Friday, July 5.
“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 to the Guardian Council” for the second round scheduled for July 5,” said Iranian election spokesman Mohsen Eslami, as quoted by AFP.
The elections in Iran are being held following the death of Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi, 63, passed away in a helicopter crash on May 19, which also claimed the lives of the country’s foreign minister and others.
The overall voter turnout was 39.9%, with more than 1 million votes being voided. The 2021 presidential election that saw Raisi’s victory had a 42% turnout, while the March parliamentary election recorded a 41% turnout.
Iran law on elections
Iranian law mandates that a candidate must receive more than 50% of the total votes to be declared the winner.
If this threshold is not met, the top two candidates proceed to a runoff election the following week. In Iran’s history, there has only been one presidential runoff election, which took place in 2005 when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Eslami acknowledged that the Guardian Council would need to provide official approval, but the results did not face any immediate challenges from the candidates.
The initial vote did not produce an outright winner, necessitating this additional round which is scheduled for Friday, July 5.
“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 to the Guardian Council” for the second round scheduled for July 5,” said Iranian election spokesman Mohsen Eslami, as quoted by AFP.
The elections in Iran are being held following the death of Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi, 63, passed away in a helicopter crash on May 19, which also claimed the lives of the country’s foreign minister and others.
The overall voter turnout was 39.9%, with more than 1 million votes being voided. The 2021 presidential election that saw Raisi’s victory had a 42% turnout, while the March parliamentary election recorded a 41% turnout.
Iran law on elections
Iranian law mandates that a candidate must receive more than 50% of the total votes to be declared the winner.
If this threshold is not met, the top two candidates proceed to a runoff election the following week. In Iran’s history, there has only been one presidential runoff election, which took place in 2005 when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Eslami acknowledged that the Guardian Council would need to provide official approval, but the results did not face any immediate challenges from the candidates.
