TEHRAN, Iran, Feb.21
Trend:
Tehran Province's Governor Mohsen Bandpey has announced that half a million people in Tehran province cast their ballots thus far, Trend reports citing IRNA.
Meanwhile, Abbasali Kadkhodaei, the spokesman for Iran's Guardian Council, predicted a turnout of more than 50 percent, although some say the turnout in reformist-minded cities such as the capital could be some 30 percent.
Iranian Supreme Leader has previously warned that “friends and foes are watching out for the election results”.
He said the enemies wanted to see what had been the result of Trump’s policy of “maximum economic pressure”. He said it was not just an Iranian’s “national and revolutionary duty to vote, but a religious one”.
Iran holds the 11th parliamentary elections and the 5th regular elections of the Expert Council on Feb. 21. More than 7,100 candidates are running for 290 seats in the Iranian parliamentary elections. There are 57,918,000 eligible voters in the ongoing parliamentary elections.
The elections are held in 208 constituencies and 54,000 polling stations, where the passports are being stamped.
Parliamentary candidates in Iran are usually aligned with reformists or conservatives, also referred to as "principlists". These are the two main political currents.
The conservatives are traditionally seen as supportive of greater state intervention, socially and economically, and most of them did not support the nuclear deal and negotiations with the US.
On the other hand, reformists pushed for the nuclear deal and are seen to be supportive of a more open-market economy.
The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have called for a high voter turnout, and asked the public to come together.