Senior Lawmaker Reports Major Violations In Iran's Elections

An outgoing Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday that major violations have affected the results of the parliamentary elections held on Friday.

After losing the election in the constituency of Kerman and Ravar, Mohammad-Reza Pour-Ebrahimi stated that “buying and selling votes, giving massive gifts and conducting unlawful campaigns” as some of the widespread violations.

He called on the Guardian Council to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation of the irregularities.

Pour-Ebrahimi is the head of the outgoing Iranian Parliament’s Economic Commission and is considered an influential lawmaker. He has represented Kerman and Ravar in parliament for three consecutive terms.

What some candidates committed definitely affected the results in the constituency, he added in his statement.

Iran’s parliamentary and the Assembly of Experts elections were held simultaneously on Friday, an event which was met with a massive boycott by the public, the opposition and civil and political activists.

Iranian regime media, including IRNA and the IRGC-affiliated Fars news website, claim a voter turnout of more than 40%. However, social media accounts offer a contrasting narrative through videos and images, indicating a much more lackluster participation.

Over the past days, the regime drastically stepped up its measures to lure the unwilling citizens to vote.

In one instance, Iran's infamous police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said that the soldiers serving in the police force will be granted four days of leave in exchange for participating in the elections.

Iran’s security and intelligence institutions had also mounted pressure to prevent boycott campaigns.

Some activists reported that they received threatening text messages from Iran’s judiciary over launching or supporting boycott campaigns on their social media pages.