Iran’s Parliamentary Run-Off Votes Not to Be Held Electronically

Iran’s Guardian Council disagreed with an offer by the Interior Ministry to hold parliamentary run-off elections due to be held on April 29 electronically, saying some legal and technical problems with the electronic system are still in place.

In a Thursday letter sent by the Guardian Council (GC) to Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the ministry was informed that the offer has not been accepted.

Given the fact that legal and technical problems are left unresolved, the ministry’s offer was not accepted, the letter read.

Back in June 2015, the Iranian cabinet approved a plan to hold the February 26 parliamentary and the Assembly of Experts elections by using electronic ballot boxes.

However, Spokesman for Iran’s Guardian Council (GC) Nejatollah said in late January that the GC had called off the plans to hold the polls using electronic voting machines.

One of the main reasons behind the decision not to hold the elections electronically is that the security of the new systems planned to be used for electronic elections was not confirmed by related authorities, he said at the time.

Earlier this month, Rahmani Fazli said his ministry was ready to hold the second round of competition among remaining parliamentary hopefuls via electronic ballot boxes, adding that the number of candidates in the run-off is lower and electronic voting can take place easily.

There are currently 290 seats in the Iranian parliament, known as Majlis, elected by direct vote of people in nationwide election for four years.