Isfahan Governor Calls for Explanation Regarding Invalidated Votes of Third Elected Member of Parliament

Resul Zarghampour, the governor of Isfahan, has announced that the Guardian Council has invalidated the votes of the third elected member of this city in the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. On Wednesday, April 4, Mr. Zarghampour stated during a press conference that he has requested the Minister of Interior of Iran to inquire about the reason for this issue from the Guardian Council. The governor of Isfahan reported that the elected individual has also protested this matter. Mino Khaleghi, one of the candidates supported by reformists in Isfahan, was announced by the Ministry of Interior to have entered the Islamic Consultative Assembly as the third member from this city with approximately 193,000 votes. In a statement, Ms. Khaleghi said that "so far, she has received no notification regarding any advertising violations or other issues related to disqualification" and "has not had any meetings with the members of the Guardian Council and the supervising board since the start of the election campaign." She denied the "rumors" and requested security agencies to "strongly deal with all the rumors and unethical behaviors that have been published by ill-intentioned individuals in cyberspace." The city of Isfahan has five representatives in the parliament, and the votes of the other four have been approved by the Guardian Council. A day before the statements of the governor of Isfahan, a member of the Guardian Council announced the "cancellation" of Ms. Khaleghi's votes but did not provide an explanation for the reasons behind this issue. Now, the governor of Isfahan has stated that "the third elected member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly is pursuing this incident" and said, "We must wait to see what results her follow-ups yield." Mr. Zarghampour emphasized that the Guardian Council's opinion on this matter is "final." According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Guardian Council is responsible for overseeing presidential elections, the Assembly of Experts, and the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Another principle of this law designates this body as responsible for its own interpretation, and the Guardian Council has used this authority to define its oversight of elections as "discretionary." According to this interpretation, the Guardian Council examines the qualifications of candidates for all three of these elections, although the invalidation of the votes of an elected candidate in previous terms has rarely occurred.