Mass Resignation of Members of the Election Supervisory Board in Bandar Abbas

The head and secretary of the High Supervisory Board for City and Village Council Elections in Hormozgan Province, along with members of the Bandar Abbas supervisory board, have resigned from their positions. The reason for this collective resignation, reported by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday, May 10, was a protest against the approval of six disqualified candidates for the Bandar Abbas City Council by the High Supervisory Board for Elections. Ahmad Moradi, the head of the High Supervisory Board for Elections in Hormozgan Province, confirmed this news and stated that this resignation is 'in line with a promise I had previously made.' Moradi mentioned that he has no issue with the final approval of candidates who had been previously disqualified but expected that the 'legal process' should have been followed. Ali Majidi Zadeh Fini, the secretary of the High Supervisory Board for City and Village Council Elections in Hormozgan Province, is also mentioned as one of those who resigned. ISNA also reported that five members of the Bandar Abbas supervisory board have announced their resignation in a letter. In this letter, they stated that the legal process for approving disqualified candidates was not followed, and they have 'no problem with the approval of disqualified individuals.' The resigners argue that the non-invitation of the head of the High Supervisory Board for City and Village Council Elections in Hormozgan Province to the national High Supervisory Board to review the objections of disqualified candidates is not illegal. The local website 'Fardaye Hormozgan' also reported on Thursday that the head of the High Supervisory Board for Elections in Hormozgan resigned in protest against the approval of a 'specific' candidate for the Bandar Abbas City Council elections. According to this website, the provincial secretary and members of the Bandar Abbas supervisory board resigned in support of Ahmad Moradi, but their request was rejected by the head of the High Supervisory Board for Elections in Hormozgan. 'Fardaye Hormozgan' added that Ahmad Moradi had previously threatened to resign if this 'specific' candidate was approved. Hossein Hashemi Takhti, a member of the High Supervisory Board for Elections in Hormozgan, stated that 'I do not consider the resignation of the head and secretary of the High Supervisory Board and the members of the Bandar Abbas supervisory board to be appropriate.' According to reports, 188 candidates for the Bandar Abbas City Council elections have been approved to participate in the upcoming elections. The publication of the final list of approved candidates for the upcoming city and village council elections in Iran has been met with protests and criticisms. Farhad Tajri, the spokesperson for the Central Supervisory Board for Council Elections, announced that only 30 candidates were disqualified after a list was provided by the prosecutor's office. The disqualification of these individuals in the past two days comes while, according to council election law, the Central Supervisory Board for Elections cannot interfere in the work of the county and provincial supervisory boards regarding the approval of candidates and the confirmation of election results.