TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian voters voted across the country in runoff parliamentary elections in which 10 seats are up for grabs in the 290-seat Parliament.
As part of measures to contain further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, all voters and the people involved in the elections were obliged to wear face masks and hand gloves and refrain from any gathering outside the polling places, Press TV reported.
The voting started at 8:00 a.m. local time 0330 GMT) in 3,100 polling places located in 23 counties and 10 constituencies in Alborz, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Golestan, Khuzestan, Ilam, and Zanjan provinces.
Iran’s parliamentary elections were held on February 21, 2020. Over 24 million people took part in the polls with the overall turnout of more than 42 percent.
The elections took 279 lawmakers into the 290-member legislature. The second round to elect the 11 remaining seats was expected to be held in April, but was postponed until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Friday votes, only 10 seats were up for grabs, as one of the candidates in Miyaneh constituency in East Azarbaijan was disqualified.
Now the fate of Miyaneh constituency, along with that of four other seats – whose occupiers have either died of COVID-19 or been disqualified after winning the February votes – will be decided in another round of elections due to be held in 2021 when people will go to ballot boxes for presidential votes.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said Friday’s runoff parliamentary elections held amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be analyzed so that the country would be prepared to hold the next year’s presidential elections in a glorious way.
“If the coronavirus pandemic lingers on, we will have to consider special conditions, reservations, and requirements for the 2021 presidential elections,” Rahmani Fazli told reporters.
- source : Iran Daily
