The Iran presidential elections are complete, and Ebrahim Raisi is taking over the country. Raisi is the country’s former judiciary chief, and he won in a landslide victory. However, it was the lowest voter turnout in Iran’s history.
Ebrahim Raisi Wins Iran Election in a Landslide
Raisi dominated Iran’s election, but it’s unknown if people really wanted him to take power because of the low voter turnout. It’s a fact that the United States did not want Raisi to become the next president of Iran.
The United States already reprimanded the new leader for his involvement in executing thousands of political prisoners in 1988. One reason that Raisi won in a landslide was that his main competitor was disqualified from the race.
This caused many people to boycott the polls and stay home on election day. Although, Raisi does not care because he is the country’s next president. There are 59 million eligible voters throughout the nation, but only 28.9 million.
Of the people who voted, 3.7 million showed up and voided their ballots, making an additional political statement. There were still four candidates in the election, so this move shows that some citizens did not support any potential presidents.
Iran Media Defends Raisi
Raisi is already a favorite of the Iranian media. News outlets were quick to blame outside factors for why the voter turnout was so low. They indicated that Raisi would have won even if voters showed up at the polls.
Media outlets blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and the United States’ sanctions of Raisi for why people did not show up or voided ballots. The elections were tightly controlled, which is the likely reason that people were unhappy with the electoral process.
This was a significant reason that people criticized Raisi’s victory. Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard gave a great example of this fact in a statement after Raisi’s victory.
“That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance, and torture is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran.”
Final Results in the Iran Election
Raisi won with 17.9 million votes, which totaled 62% of the ballot. None of the other candidates gained most of the remaining ballots. If one candidate had earned all the voided ballots, they would have finished in second place.
Mohsen Rezaei, the Revolutionary Hard commander, finished in second place with 3.4 million votes. Abdolnasser Hemmati, the former Central Bank chief, finished in third with 2.4 million ballots. Finally, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi rounded out the group with just under 1 million votes.
Hemmati, the second-place finisher, conceded before the end of the election like the remainder of the candidates. It’s rare to see a runner-up concede, which shows how dominant Raisi was in the ballot box.
Hemmati wished Raisi the best after he threw in the towel on Instagram.
“I hope your administration provides causes for pride for the Islamic Republic of Iran, improves the economy and life with comfort and welfare for the great nation of Iran.”
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