Iran voter turnout more than US: Analyst

A political analyst says voter turnout in Iran’s presidential election has excelled that of the United States, Press TV reports.

In a Saturday interview with Press TV, Paul Sheldon Foote, professor at California State University, described voter turnout in Iran as “excellent,” saying, “it is beyond anything we see in presidential elections in America.”

He made the remarks one day after the Islamic Republic held its 11th presidential election on June 14. The Iranian Interior Ministry put voter turnout at 72.7 percent out of nearly 50.5 million eligible voters.

Sheldon Foote further criticized Washington over its claims about freedom of speech, saying the small number of media networks in the United States “have the big microphones and they can limit who can speak.”

Apparently, people in the US can post anything they wish on the Internet, but actually a small number of people can see those posts, Sheldon Foote said.

“We certainly have our problems and unfortunately many voters are not even being attached to these problems in America,” he added.

The analyst further stated that voter turnout in the US presidential elections is about 50 percent, adding, “Anything other than the presidential race, it drops down very significantly.”

He also stated that people in the US are unwilling to participate in the elections due to the belief that both the Republican and Democratic parties are very similar.

“There will not be much impact either way, that regardless of who is in, the same basic interest will be served,” Sheldon Foote said.

Hassan Rohani won Iran’s June 14 presidential race, gaining 18,613,329 votes, or 50.7 percent of a total of 36,704,156 ballots.

Rohani currently represents Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the country’s Supreme National Security Council, is a member of the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts, and is also president of the Expediency Council’s Center for Strategic Research.