Iran’s views when people go to or stay at polling stations

Tehran, Iran ——57-year-old Mehri took out her ID card and pointed to all the seals on it.

“Look at this,” she said. “I have voted for 40 years and there is almost no room left.”

The widowed, full-time mother lives in a small rented apartment in the southern part of the Iranian capital Tehran. She relies on her 30-year-old son to send her money every week, who lives with his wife and has a child on the road.

Under huge economic pressure and no clear way out, she didn’t want to vote in Iran. President election This time-but was persuaded by her son.

“The last vote is the key. This time I am voting to lock in what I will see,” Mehri told al jazeera. When he first stood up in 2013 on Friday, Hassan Rouhani’s election symbol introduced what 2017, and he The opponent Ibrahim Raisi (Ebrahim Raisi).

The current Chief Justice Raisi was defeated by Rouhani with more than 23 million votes (57%) in 2017 with close to 16 million votes (38%).

However, this time, he is the front runner among the four presidential candidates so far.

At the polling station set up by Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine, an important monument in Rey, one of the southernmost areas of the capital, everyone seems to want to vote for him.

“I hope that he will advance in a planned way to solve the people’s problems,” 40-year-old Afsaneh Norouzi told Al Jazeera, speaking of the so-called revolutionary camp and the conservative candidates beloved by the base. people.

“This kind of inflation and high prices are hurting people. I hope he doesn’t just say a slogan, he can really put it into action,” said the housewife, who voted for the first time with her daughter.

A group of young people voted for the first time. They chatted with each other when they voted under the scorching sun in the afternoon.

They appear very cold. “I don’t have any special expectations,” one said after voting for Raisi, and another added, “We were just caught in the buzz, and we really don’t know what will happen.”

vote rate

In an election where the winner seems almost certain, turnout-many people expect to be low-has become a core issue.

Approximately 59.3 million of Iran’s approximately 83 million people are eligible to vote, of which over 1.3 million are voting for the first time.

According to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of eligible voters also includes about 3.5 million Iranians living abroad, and Iran’s embassies and consulates in 133 countries have accepted votes.

The Ministry severely criticized Canada for refusing to vote. About 400,000 Iranians in Canada are eligible to vote and told Iranians to go to polling stations set up in several states in the neighboring United States.

Although Iran’s conservative media reports on Friday indicated that the turnout rate may be higher than expected, the voter participation rate in this election is still expected to be the lowest since the 1979 revolution.

In 1993, the late Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) won re-election, which was the lowest presidential turnout in the past 40 years with just over 50%. Last year’s parliamentary election was also marked by the widespread disqualification of reformers, as in the presidential election, with a turnout rate of 42%.

The weakening of public enthusiasm for the election is also reflected in the words of Iranian officials before the vote.

On Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech that although he admitted that some people were dissatisfied with the economic situation and livelihoods, they could not shy away from opinion polls because it would increase “external pressure” on Iran. enemy”.

After voting early on Friday, he said: “Even a vote is important. No one has to say what will happen to my vote?”

Although earlier criticized the censorship body known as the Guardianship Council for “removing” reformist and moderate candidates and its possible threat to the legitimacy of the Republic, all senior officials in Rouhani’s government publicly urged people to vote.

‘I’m just tired’

However, this message does not seem to be conveyed to many Iranians who are worried about the future but are also disillusioned by a series of problems-not only economic, but also social freedom.

A 28-year-old man voted in 2017 and 2013. He said: “I’m just tired of the pressure from home and abroad. I am desperate that this vote will not change anything.” Anonymous.

“I think false hope is worse than feeling despair at this point,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that he chose to stay on Friday.

After former President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers in 2018, Iran is facing the toughest sanctions in the history of the United States.

Another person who requested anonymity and voted for Rouhani also said that he chose not to vote this year.

“If Hemmati has a chance to win, maybe I will vote,” the 34-year-old said of Abdolnaser Hemmati. He was one of the four candidates and the only moderate left on the ballot.

But in this case to vote, he said, “it will only send a signal to those in power, no matter what the situation, people will vote, so next time they will make the situation worse”.

Indeed, Hemati himself and Rouhani both warned that “removing” candidates would not only undermine the legitimacy of the establishment and eliminate competition, but also undermine the republican element of the Islamic Republic.

“Regardless of the outcome, I am satisfied with my decision. I voted for Hematy to protect the Republic and save Iran,” Twitter user Mahsa Soltani wrote, and attached Poll photo of herself.

Another user, journalist Zeinab Safari, said on Twitter that she voted “not to get anything, but to prevent losing the very few things left.”