Iran Gears Up For Snap Presidential Elections; Voting Process And The Role Of Guardian Council

Iran will set to vote for the snap presidential election on Friday to elect a successor to Ebrahim Raisi following his death in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024. Reportedly, the contest is set to be dominated by security hardliners sharing his uncompromising anti-Western views. The Iranian president runs the day-to-day affairs, however, the real power including the nuclear program and foreign policy lies in the hands of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Out of the 80 registered candidates, a total of 6 candidates, of whom 5 are hardliners and 1 candidate is moderate, by the Guardian Council, a hardline constitutional watchdog have been cleared for the 14th Presidential election including:

1. Former justice minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi,
2. Former health minister Massoud Pezeshkian,
3. Head of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi,
4. Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani,
5. Former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili
6. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf

Presidential Election Process:

• The Guardian Council screens the candidates for their political and Islamic qualifications. It is a panel of 12 clerics appointed by the Supreme leader and Islamic jurists nominated by the judiciary chief and approved by the parliament.
• A candidate must be of Iranian origin and an Iranian citizen considered a distinguished political or religious figure with an unblemished record of piety and fidelity to the Islamic Republic.
• The Guardian Council bars women from contesting for the president’s post, however, some top clerics and human rights lawyers argue that the constitution does not exclude women from contesting the elections.
• The voting franchise is given to the people above 18, which means over 61 million people in Iran can vote.
• The votes are counted manually that’s why the result is announced after two days.
• If no candidate wins at least 50% plus one vote of all ballot cast, including the blank votes, a run-off round takes place between two top candidates and is held on the first Friday after the result is announced.

Embassies Ready For Elections

As per the Iranian news agency IRNA, countries all over the world have agreed with Iran’s request to hold the elections on their soil. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Jakarta has made to necessary preparations to hold the 14th Iranian presidential elections in Indonesia. People can cast their votes in the Austrian cities of Vienna and Graz, and the Slovakian capital city of Bratislava. Iran’s embassies in South Korea and Finland have also declared their readiness to hold the elections.

However, Saudi Arabia has refused to allow 47,000 Iranian pilgrims to vote in presidental elections despite the repeated request by the them.