Khodkhodai: Women Can Register for Presidential Elections Like Men

Abbasali Khodkhodai, spokesperson for the Guardian Council, stated on Saturday, January 25, that women can register for the presidential elections without any restrictions, just like men. According to the IRNA news agency, Khodkhodai mentioned that the Guardian Council will conduct studies and announce its opinion on this matter. While the spokesperson of the Guardian Council has deemed the registration of women in presidential elections permissible, it is noteworthy that in 11 previous presidential elections in Iran, the Guardian Council has never approved the candidacy of any woman. Earlier in November of this year, Khodkhodai stated that the determination of the term 'political men' regarding presidential candidates is the responsibility of the Guardian Council and that 'there is no need for a parliamentary resolution on this matter.' The issue of defining 'political men' in Iranian elections has been a contentious topic for years. In recent months, some political figures have declared that women can also be considered 'political men' and can run for the presidency. For instance, the late Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former head of the Expediency Discernment Council, stated in an interview on November 24 that the condition of 'political men' could also include women. He mentioned, 'When we were preparing the Constitution in the Revolutionary Council, we left this ambiguous because the circumstances did not require a woman to be president, and we did not want to negate it.' Article 115 of the Constitution states that the president must be selected from among qualified religious and political men. Khodkhodai also discussed the electronic holding of next year's presidential elections, stating, 'This issue is under expert review, and we need to see what the results of these studies will be.' The spokesperson added, 'It is likely that an opinion on this matter will be announced within 10 days.' Meanwhile, Salman Samani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, reported ongoing consultations with the Guardian Council regarding the electronic conduct of elections. Samani added, 'We will soon finalize the status of electronic elections in urban and rural areas with the central supervisory board for these elections.' Regarding whether the voting machines to be used in the upcoming elections are made in China, he stated, 'This claim is not true, and the technical committee of the Ministry of Interior will provide information on this matter in due time.' The twelfth presidential election in Iran will be held simultaneously with the fifth round of Islamic city and village councils elections and the first mid-term elections of the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on May 29, 1396 (May 19, 2017). In this context, Khodkhodai announced the 'possibility of amending the election law' before the 96 elections. Ahmad Jannati, head of the central supervisory board for presidential elections, has set the condition for the Guardian Council for the electronic conduct of council elections.