News / Politics

Vote counting underway in Iran elections

Friday, 26 February 2016 9:38 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 27 February 2016 4:49 AM ]

Iranians queue outside a polling station at Hazrat Masoumeh shrine in the holy city of Qom during the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections on February 26, 2016. (IRNA)

The polls closed in Iran’s parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections at 23:45 local time (2015 GMT) on Friday after voting was extended several times due to a massive voter turnout. Some 55 million Iranians were eligible to vote in the two elections. The process of counting ballots is already underway.

Iran’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that the election staff at each polling station should first count the ballots related to the Assembly of Experts poll and then do the same for the parliamentary election.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli said results would be announced Saturday. He had earlier said that turnout was estimated to be around 70 percent based on opinion polls.

As many as 4,844 candidates, including about 500 women, were competing for a place in the 290-seat Parliament. A total of 159 others were running for the 88-member Assembly of Experts. Members of the Assembly serve eight-year terms while MPs are elected every four years.