Early count in Iran presidential race points to runoff
Published in Political News
The latest ballot count in Iran’s snap presidential election shows a runoff is likely to take place next week between the only reformist candidate in the race and a staunchly anti-Western hardliner.
So far, Saeed Jalili, the most conservative candidate in the poll, has 4,266,386 votes and reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has 4,244,815, according to state TV.
Separately, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said “unofficial figures” show the election is likely to run into a second round between Jalili and Pezeshkian, amid projections of record-low participation.
The semi-official Mehr news agency also projected that none of the candidates is likely to secure 50% of the votes, the threshold required for an outright win, and a runoff will be held on July 5.
Tasnim projected the overall turnout at about 40%, the lowest since presidential elections started in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The snap election was triggered after hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash last month.
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