77% of Tehran and 60% of Iran said 'no' to government candidates; voting extended to a second round with Pezeshkian and Jalili

According to the announcement by the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic, none of the candidates from the Islamic Republic were able to achieve the required votes to replace Ebrahim Raisi, and Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili have advanced to the second round of voting. According to disputed official statistics, about 77% of eligible voters in Greater Tehran refrained from voting for government candidates for the presidency. The nationwide participation rate, based on these disputed statistics, has been reported as 40%, marking the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, independent observers and sources believe that the Islamic Republic manipulates election statistics, reporting voter participation higher than the actual figures. According to state media reports, the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic claimed that with the 'counting' of more than 24 million of the alleged 'votes' in the government elections on Friday to determine a replacement for Ebrahim Raisi from among the government candidates for the presidency, Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili advanced to the second round, which will be held next Friday. The figures and statistics from the Islamic Republic's government sources have always been seriously questioned and disputed by observers and independent sources. The latest 'claimed statistics' from the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic show that after 'counting 24,735,185 votes', Masoud Pezeshkian received 10,415,191 votes, and Saeed Jalili received 9,473,298 votes, in a process where even according to government statistics, more than 60% of eligible voters abstained from participation, advancing to the second round to be held next Friday. According to the claimed statistics of the Ministry of Interior of Ebrahim Raisi's government, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was reported in third place with 3,383,340 votes, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi was reported last with only 206,397 votes. The claimed participation rate of 40% by the government, even according to 'official' statistics announced in recent periods, indicates that the trend of declining public participation of Iranians in the government elections of the Islamic Republic continues. Participation in the parliamentary elections in 1398, held during Hassan Rouhani's government, was reported as 42%. Following that, the presidential elections of 1400, which were held simultaneously with the city and village council elections, were claimed by the government to have 48% participation, with the number of invalid votes accounting for more than 13% of the claimed votes. The participation rate in the parliamentary elections last December for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts was also reported as 41%. Previously, at midnight Tehran time, the Tasnim news agency close to the IRGC claimed based on 'hearsay' that participation in the government presidential voting in Iran was 'around 40%' and 'the elections are likely going to a second round.' Despite the extensive efforts and propaganda by the Islamic Republic to draw people to the polls for the government elections to determine Ebrahim Raisi's successor, reports from social media users and images sent from Iran indicated a weak presence of Iranians. Prince Reza Pahlavi also wrote on social media on Friday: 'All evidence, field reports, and numerous images from empty polling stations across the country indicate a decisive 'no' from the Iranian people to the regime's election circus. This widespread boycott, which even supporters and affiliates of the Islamic Republic have admitted to, reflects your firm will to move beyond this illegitimate and anti-Iranian regime.' The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, close to the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, also stated on Saturday, July 9, based on what it called a report from the 'social headquarters of this organization inside Iran', that 'in total, less than 7 million and 400 thousand people or only 12% of eligible voters participated voluntarily or under pressure in the presidential elections of the clerics.' This council pointed out: 'As a result, 88% of the Iranian people took the crushing hammer of boycott against Khamenei's election masquerade and severely rejected the religious dictatorship. They announced that their final vote is for the overthrow of the regime.' Many protesters, families of the bereaved, political and civil activists, and political parties and organizations with various tendencies had previously announced that they would not participate in the 'government appointments' and 'election circus.' Political prisoners in Evin prison also did not participate in this voting. Meanwhile, Mehdi Mahmoudian, a human rights activist and former political prisoner, wrote on social media 'X': 'It is a disgrace for a government that 35%, 40% of eligible voters participate in their presidential elections. It is clear that their people have neither trust, nor regard, nor hope for the political system.' Hossein Ronaghi, a political activist and former prisoner of the Islamic Republic, also wrote in this regard: 'The widespread boycott and lack of participation of the people in the ridiculous and fake elections of the Islamic Republic indicate the opposition, dissatisfaction, and protest of the general public of Iranians against the current situation and a big 'no' to the entirety of the 'Islamic Republic' that has occupied Iran for decades and kept the people in captivity.' He pointed out: 'The united 'no' and the cohesive but silent movement of the people showed who holds the 'power'. A people who intelligently make silent choices like this will not only create surprises today but also in the future that no loudspeaker can predict. This silent vote was not a silent choice; it was a powerful selection.' Hossein Razag, a former political prisoner, also wrote on social media 'X': 'He said: 'Every vote in the election is a vote for the Islamic Republic.' The overwhelming majority of the people said no to him and his regime.' Mehdi Yarahee, a protest singer who was briefly detained for supporting the people during the protests of 1401, reacted to the government elections of July 8 with a short message with the hashtag Mahsa Amini: 'To the curse receiver of mothers.' Results from the polling institute 'Gomaan' indicated that 65% of eligible voters would not participate in this election. According to announcements from government agencies, the second round of the 'elections' in question by the Islamic Republic will be held next Friday, July 15, to determine a replacement for Raisi for the title of 'presidency'. Ebrahim Raisi was the thirteenth president of the Islamic Republic, who was killed in May of this year following a helicopter crash during his third year in office.