A word from the editor of Democratic Elections

It has been a few days since the March 27, 2015 elections for the Shura Council and the Assembly of Experts, but supporters of the winning faction call it democratic .

 Iran’s Interior Minister announced a 62 percent turnout in the March 27 elections. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told reporters on Monday, March 1, 2015, that “about 50 percent of eligible voters in Tehran and about 62 percent nationwide participated in the elections.” According to the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33 million out of 55 million eligible voters participated in the elections.

With a simple mathematical operation, we can confidently state that only 60 percent of the votes cast were from eligible voters. Of course, the statistics from the Ministry of Interior, like those from other officials, are not very reliable.

According to official reports, 64 percent of eligible voters participated in the Ninth Assembly elections. However, the number of eligible voters and the level of participation in the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Assembly elections were more welcoming than the March 2015 elections, with 64, 71, and 69 percent participation, respectively.

Some political activists, based on eyewitness observations, believe that the level of participation in polling stations does not match the number of votes cast as announced by the Ministry of Interior.

What is striking from a statistical perspective is the consistent and continuous decline in the number of participants in Iran's elections. Here, we would like to take a fresh look at the electoral process in Iran and its order, and examine the common reasons for non-participation in elections.

1) The Guardian Council. It is a council to determine the qualifications of candidates (!), whose actual goal is to engineer the shape of the future parliament.

2) Consultations of disqualified candidates and sometimes their return to the election scene by government decree. (A government decree is an order issued by the Leader to overturn the Guardian Council’s vote on disqualified candidates.) Question: If the aforementioned council disqualified individuals based on the law, the government decree is illegal. And if the disqualification of individuals was contrary to the law, how does this council get permission to continue its activities?

3) Election campaigns – vote buying and numerous conflicts between election campaigns. All three sides, right, left and center, admit to the entry of dirty money to buy votes. Election conflicts in small towns are generally due to the entry of rival groups into the candidates’ campaign areas. You read, the area of ​​​​votes bought.

 4) The representatives' executive programs. None of the candidates give a clear and formulated program for their candidacy period. Because during their term of representation, they must keep an eye on the leader and the leadership's house. Because this has been the rule for survival in the parliament seat.

5) Voting. Sending buses of vote sellers to places where there is a possibility of defeat for in-house candidates. Arresting 16 buses carrying vote sellers in Fouman. Arresting a bus carrying Qomi voting students in Tehran. Arresting dozens of buses selling votes in Gonabad and stopping buses carrying vote sellers in Zabol.

Printing of additional ballots, more than the number of eligible voters. These ballots, along with ballots from those boycotting the election, have an unknown destination.

Invalidation of ballot boxes in constituencies that make the ruling faction's defeat certain.

Non-electronic voting. Voting by ballot and its non-electronic nature has increased the possibility and probability of vote fraud.

6) Counting the votes. The counting of the votes is carried out by the election headquarters of the Ministry of Interior, and the design of the ballot paper does not allow the counting of the votes by a special vote-reading machine. Even with the presence of observers from the headquarters, it is possible to distort the real votes. Note that the vote counters are appointed by the Ministry of Interior and not by neutral organizations.

7) Representatives of the people. All representatives who enter the parliament, regardless of their political faction, immediately declare their commitment and loyalty to the leadership and ideals of the late Imam and the revolution. And in a short time, they will not remember their passionate election slogans. The end justifies the means.

I wonder where in this election was democratic that they have hidden from us?

 What has been the outcome of people's choices in the elections of the past years? Unfortunately, contrary to the decline in participation in elections, we are faced with a statistical increase in social harms that are on the rise.

 Poverty line growth to over 3 million Tomans per month. Increase in the number of addicts and reduction of the age of addiction to school level. Increase in prostitution and reduction of the age of prostitution to thirteen years. Emergence of male prostitutes. Increase in the rate of street fights. Increase in the divorce rate to 30 percent. Increase in the number of people with mental disorders to 25 percent of people. Increase in crime and reduction in the age of crime. Growth in the unemployment rate and job insecurity. Growth in unemployment among educated classes. Increase in the number of suicides. Increase in domestic violence and murders. Progressive increase in prisoners. Increasing growth in human rights violations and the number of executions. Violation of basic civil laws and basic human rights, etc. Add to all this the repression, torture, assassination and execution of journalists and political/civil activists, as well as ethnic and religious minorities.

 Do I really need to remind you of the atrocities they did not commit against the Iranian church? Because their only sin was worshiping God and that was it? Do I really need to remind you of the murder of Pastor Hayek with 26 stab wounds or the strange hanging of Pastor Ravanbakhsh? Do I need to remind you that all churches in Iran have been closed and they are not allowed to participate in any way?

Have you asked yourself, why did 33 million eligible people in Iran go to the polls despite all these conditions?

 1) Approximately 10% of voters are government appointees and supporters. 2) Probably half are forced to vote due to their job requirements (military personnel, teachers, government employees and government institutions) and educational qualifications, etc.

 But what were the remaining 14-15 million who cast their votes in hope, making up only a quarter of the eligible voters, looking for? Let's be honest and frank. Elections in Iran are no longer a choice between bad and worse. The Iranian elections are the people's desperate attempt to gain a little space to survive. A little air to breathe and be alive. A glimmer of hope for the coming of a savior.

What is more painful is that we have suffered from historical amnesia and long-term memory loss. What is more painful is that part of this amnesia is also voluntary. We do not remember or we try to forget what has happened to us. Or perhaps we are running away from the frustrating efforts of our past. Perhaps we are saddened by all our failed efforts. Perhaps it is because of disappointment in the Sixth Parliament or disappointment in the failure to fulfill the promises of the Second June 1976 that we do not remember. Perhaps our disappointment and forgetfulness are due to our fruitless efforts during the summer and winter of 2009 that have caused us to suffer from such memory loss?

Common sense and a wise spirit forbid us from running away from problems, and see the cure in confronting them. The solution to the problem lies in ameliorating the situation, not in correcting it.