As Voting Takes Place in Iran, Debate Over Boycott Continues

Pro-participation and pro-boycott Iranians are using a host of arguments to convince each other to vote or not vote in the June 28 snap presidential elections.

The primary argument of those determined not to vote is that participating gives credibility to an election that is neither fair nor free, and that a high turnout will be used as proof of the legitimacy of the political establishment controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In contrast, those in favor of voting argue that a low turnout will neither hasten the downfall of the ruling establishment nor lead to its international isolation, as advocates of boycotting hope.

Many also argue that the political establishment has already engineered the outcome by restricting the competition to six hand-picked candidates. They point out that at least four hardliners were pitched against a pro-reform and a conservative candidate with little chance of winning to ensure a high turnout.

Graffiti in Ekbatan, Tehran, where ballot boxes are marked as “Deceit Box”

Turnout in similarly engineered 2021 elections which led to Ebrahim Raisi’s presidency was 41 percent, the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic. So far the turnout on Friday is estimated to be under 50% to as high as 55 percent of nearly 61 million eligible voters.

No to voting graffiti

Most of the arguments in favor of voting pertain to pro-reform Masoud Pezeshkian who appears to have become a serious danger to hardliner hopefuls Saeed Jalili and Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf. Both have stubbornly refused to let the other carry the hardliners’ torch to prevent votes from splitting between them but withdrawal of one in the other's favor may be announced as hours before the ballots open.

Supporters of hardliners/conservatives need no encouragement to vote as they consider voting a religious duty. Many of those who advocate participation now, however, were initially against voting but have decided to vote for the pro-reform candidate Masoud Pezeshkian only to stop either Jalili or Ghalibaf from winning.

Street trash bin with “Ballot Box” graffiti

This group has a host of arguments to justify the call to support Pezeshkian. Many of them admit that the president’s powers are very limited by the Supreme Leader who has the first say in the choice of vice presidents and cabinet ministers, particularly the ministers of foreign affairs, intelligence, and interior, as well as the chief of police and many other top officials.

They also admit that the current power structure does not allow any significant structural reforms to take place but this is a chance to make a difference, however small, given the “tiny whole” that has been opened by allowing Pezeshkian stand in so “things can get a little better at least,” they say.

Women appear to be in majority among the pro-boycott as even the pro-reform candidate has failed to present an acceptable and progressive plan for addressing the varied demands and grievances of women. Accordingly, the number of women in Pezeshkian’s campaign meetings was visibly small compared to men.

Many political and civil groups have issued statements for boycotting the elections and many others are campaigning for it individually on social media.

The United Youth of Iran (UYI), an underground pro-democracy youth group that came into being during the 2020-2021Woman, Life, Freedom anti-government protests is one of the groups that has boycotted the elections. The next government will only perpetuate crimes and human rights violations like its predecessor, they argue.

“We will not vote for the murderers of the Iranian youth,” the UYI which has campaigned for boycotting the elections on social media and graffiti in urban areas says. 

The underground gnostic/alternative medicine Taheri Movement is another group that has announced that they will boycott the “show elections “because they find the system “unreformable”.

The movement that quickly spread among educated Iranians in the 2000s takes its name from its leader/guru Mohammad-Ali Taheri. It still has a big following estimated at over a million.