Azerbaijan, Baku, March 2 / Trend T. Jafarov /
The parliamentary elections began in Iran at 08:00 local time today, which will continue until 18:00.
According to the law, the parliamentary elections must last 10 hours, but if there is a need, the interior minister may extend the voting time, Iranian State Election Commission Chairman Sulat Murtazavi said.
About 3,467 candidates compete in the parliamentary elections. The elections take place in 46,062 polling stations. They are held in 14,307 polling stations by using the mobile ballot boxes.
The election results may be made public in 48 - 72 hours after the election day (from March 2). For the first time, the electronic voting will be widely used in Iran. The electronic voting takes place in the main polling stations of 14 provinces.
If a person, who nominated himself in the parliamentary elections, will be able to get 2/3 of votes, he wins the elections. If the person fails to collect the required number of votes, the second round of elections will be held.
The winner is the candidate who obtained the most number of votes in the second round. The second round of the parliamentary elections must be held within one month from the date of voting.
The candidates, who remained dissatisfied with the elections and having complaints of irregularities in the elections, may apply to the executive board and the board monitoring the election. If they have any claims on the election results, then they can appeal to the Supervisory Board 7 days after the election results.
After Iran's Interior Ministry publishes the election results, representatives, who won the election, must wait for the Control Council to approve the results of the constituencies. In some cases the Supervisory Board considers the results of the constituencies as unreliable.
About 50,000 observers observe the parliamentary elections of IX legislature. Besides the police forces, about 85,000 volunteers of "Basij" of the Sepah (IRGC or Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps) were involved to ensure the security of elections.
There will be main competition between reformers and conservatives in the parliamentary elections in Iran.
The first meeting of the Iranian parliament is planned to be held on the seventh date of Khordad month 1391 in Islamic calendar (May 27, 2012).
MPs took an oath before the first meeting of the Parliament. Muslim MPs take an oath on the Koran, the representatives of national minorities take an oath on the holy book.
About 48 million people have the right to vote in Iran.