Iran election going to run-off, challenger alleges fraud

Friday's elections whittled Iran's field of presidential candidates from eight to two, but the incredibly close vote has led to the scheduling of an unprecedented runoff to be held next Friday.

Candidates Mahmoud Ahmadizezhad and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will square off next week --- unless candidate Mehdi Karroubi has his way. Karroubi has alleged voting irregularities and has called on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to investigate. Karroubi alleges that members of the unelected Guardian Council and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps conspired to rig votes. These charges were seconded late Saturday by reformist candidate Mostafa Moin, who had been leading in some pre-election polls but placed third in Friday's vote.

First Round Results

Presidential CandidatePopular Vote Count Percentage Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 6,159,453 21.01% Mahmoud Ahmadizehad 5,710,354 19.48% Mehdi Karroubi 5,066,316 17.28% Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf 4,075,189 13.90% Mostafa Moeen 4,054,304 13.83% Ali Larijani 1,740,163 5.94% Moshen Mehralizadeh 1,289,323 4.40% Blank or invalid votes 1,221,940 4.17% Total 29,317,042 100%

Source:Wikipedia - Iranian Presidential Election, 2005

External links & Sources

External links

For an example of the inconsistent vote tallies, see (official Iranian News Agency reports)

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0506180698161043.htm (from 16:10)

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0506180849181707.htm (from 18:17)

Note that while Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadizezhad won 650,000 votes, the total tally rose only by 350,000.

Sources

de:Bei der Präsidentenwahl im Iran kommt es zu einer Stichwahl

fr:Le gouvernement iranien donne les résultats de l'élection présidentielle