The snap Presidential elections in Iran started on Friday to choose the successor to Ebrahim Raisi, who sadly died in a helicopter crash on May 19 this year. As reported by Al Jazeera, any Iranian aged 18 or older can vote in this election in Tehran. There are 58,640 polling stations set up across the country in public places such as mosques and schools. To vote, people need to fill out an application and show their national ID card at the polling booth. They use a secret ballot to write the candidate’s name and code, then put it into a ballot box.
If no candidate gets at least 50 percent plus one vote, including blank votes, a runoff between the top two candidates will happen on the first Friday after the election results are announced. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voted and urged people to participate, stressing the election’s significance as a political test. “I don’t see any reason for doubt,” Khamenei said during the ceremony at a mosque near his offices, as Al Jazeera reported.
Before the election, two presidential candidates dropped out. Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, withdrew on Wednesday night and asked other candidates to do the same “to strengthen the revolution’s front,” according to Al Jazeera. Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, also announced on Thursday that he was withdrawing from the presidential race.
The presidential election was originally planned for 2025 but was moved up due to Raisi’s sudden death in a helicopter crash in north-western Iran, which also killed Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other officials. Raisi, aged 63, was an important figure in Iran’s succession planning for the 85-year-old Supreme Leader and was expected to win another term in office.