Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The voter turnout at Iran's parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections has surpassed a combined 60 percent, said Hossein-Ali Amiri, the spokesman of the Iranian interior ministry.
Amiri said that until now, some 33 million votes have been counted, while some 55 million of the country's 80 million were eligible for voting, Iran's state IRINN TV reported Feb. 27.
Votes for parliamentary and assembly of experts elections have been counted respectively in 42,161 and 44,647 ballot boxes so far, the official said.
Elections were held for the tenth round of parliament and fifth round of the Assembly of Experts on Feb. 26. Iranians went to the polls in over 1,063 constituencies.
Currently, the Parliament has 290 representatives fourteen of whom represent the non-Muslim religious minorities. Women constitute about eight percent of the Parliament members in Iran.
A total of 4,844 hopefuls, including about 500 women, who were qualified among 12,000 registered candidates by the Guardian Council, were taking part in the race to take the parliamentary seats.
The elected candidates will serve from May 3, 2016 for a four-year term.
In the capital Tehran, more than 1,000 candidates were competing for just 30 parliamentary seats.
The Assembly of Experts will also see its 88 members elected by the people for another eight-year term.