Empty and Quiet Voting Stations in Government Elections; Political Prisoners Did Not Participate in the 'Election Show'

Images and reports from government polling stations across various regions of Iran indicate a lack of citizen participation in the engineered elections of the Islamic Republic to select a successor to Ebrahim Raisi. Simultaneously, the hashtag 'Election Circus' has gained traction on social media. Reports from polling stations in dozens of cities including Yazd, Karaj, Tehran, Isfahan, Jiroft, Tabriz, Zahedan, Ilam, Kermanshah, Naqdeh, Boukan, Rasht, Meshkinshahr, Bojnourd, Qorveh, Rask, Kerman, Chabahar, Urmia, and Qazvin show that polling centers are completely empty or sparsely attended. The lack of enthusiasm for what the Islamic Republic calls elections is even evident in reports from some of the state-run news agencies like Tasnim. Many protesters, families of the bereaved, and political and civil activists had previously announced that they would not participate in the 'government appointments' and 'election circus.' Political prisoners in Evin Prison also refused to participate in the voting. Hossein Razagh, a former political prisoner, wrote on X: 'A few hours ago, the ballot box was brought to Ward 4 of Evin Prison, but despite voting without identification and national ID, none of the political prisoners in this ward were willing to vote and did not participate in the election show.' Many social media users have also reported very low participation among eligible voters. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, leaders who protested the disputed 2009 election results and are under house arrest, also abstained from voting. Zahra Mousavi, their daughter, wrote in an Instagram note: 'Today, agents asked about bringing the ballot box to Akhtar house arrest. My parents said: We will not participate in the elections. We will not vote.' According to the results of the polling institute 'Gomaan', 65% of eligible voters will not participate in the presidential election. The National Election Headquarters announced that the number of eligible voters in this election exceeds 61 million. Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, described 'good public participation' in this election as 'a source of pride for the Islamic Republic.' The National Election Headquarters has predicted that the results of this election will be determined and announced by Saturday morning. A citizen from Isfahan remarked: 'You who voted, did you not see the children they killed?' Empty polling stations for the government elections in various regions of Jiroft began voting among the candidates favored by the Islamic Republic to succeed Ebrahim Raisi. Iranian human rights and political activists are gathering in front of the embassies and consulates of the Islamic Republic in Germany. The Washington Post noted that for the Iranian government, high voter participation in elections is important for the stability and legitimacy of the regime.