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The recent election of the presidium in the Iranian regime’s parliament has unveiled significant voter fraud, highlighting the systemic rigging and illegitimacy within the regime’s electoral processes. The 12th Islamic Consultative Assembly, or the Iranian regime’s Parliament (also called Majlis), which commenced on May 28, faced unprecedented tension and allegations of fraud during the election of its Speaker and Presidium.
Initial results declared Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as the Speaker with 198 votes, while other candidates Mojtaba Zonnouri and Manouchehr Mottaki received 60 and 5 votes, respectively, alongside 24 invalid votes. However, the election was marred by multiple recounts and claims of irregularities.
The controversy escalated during the selection of the Deputy Speakers. Hamidreza Haji Babaee and Ali Nikzad were announced as the first and second deputies, but their appointments sparked protests and accusations of fraud, prompting Ghalibaf to order a recount of all presidium votes.
Although the recount did not alter the Speaker candidates’ votes, it revealed discrepancies in the votes for the presidium observers. The previously declared observers—Gholamreza Nouri Ghazaltjeh, Alireza Salimi, and Jalil Mir-Mohammadi Meybodi—remained in their positions, but it was discovered that a tallying error had caused Nouri Ghazaltjeh’s votes to be counted twice, leading to a reduction of 31 votes.
Amid Dual Election Turmoil, Clash of Clans Escalate Within #Iran’s Regimehttps://t.co/nq8c6ZNMvA
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 30, 2024
Further fraud emerged in the election of the presidium secretaries. Initially, Mojtaba Bakhshipoor, Ahmad Naderi, Ruhollah Motofaker-Azad, Mojtaba Yousefi, Mohammad Rashidi, and Akbar Ranjbarzadeh were declared as secretaries. However, the recount revealed changes in all these votes, resulting in Ranjbarzadeh losing his position. Abbas Papizadeh replaced him after their votes tied and a lottery was held to determine the outcome.
The extent of the fraud was further exposed by Hamid Rasaee, an influential MP, who vehemently opposed the election results. On X (formerly known as Twitter), Rasaee disclosed more details about the electoral scandal, revealing that both Ranjbarzadeh and Papizadeh initially had 83 votes each, with Papizadeh winning the lottery. However, Rasaei pointed out that Bagherzadeh’s initial 83 votes were mysteriously increased to 84 after the recount, then reduced to 81, disqualifying him from the secretarial position.
The day after, during the approval of the representatives’ credentials and amid Shariati and Tajgardoun’s altercations, Rasaee went on the offensive again. He confronted Ghalibaf, saying, “In the presidium election, you downplayed the issue in the closed session, saying nothing significant happened and that just one representative switched places. Mr. Ghalibaf, it’s not trivial; it’s like saying a 3 billion embezzlement is nothing!”
The election’s paper ballot format, involving only 290 votes, highlights the systemic and severity of the fraud. This situation raises profound concerns about the integrity of nationwide elections in Iran, where millions of votes are counted indirectly, without genuine voter oversight. The transparency and fairness of the electoral process are called into question, suggesting that if such blatant fraud can occur in a small, controlled environment, the potential for rigging and manipulation on the national scale is beyond measurement.