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Iran's Voting Manipulation Industry

[Washington Institute for Near East Policy] Mehdi Khalaji - In Iran, there is no requirement to vote near one's residence. Voter turnout at a particular voting station, or even in a city, can theoretically exceed the estimated number of eligible voters in that locality. A person's voting eligibility is determined by a "birth certificate" (BC). In previous elections, reports surfaced that the Imam Khomeini Committee, a large state charity affiliated with supreme leader Ali Khamenei, "rented" BCs belonging to the poor. According to the National Organization for Civil Registration, the number of existing BCs considerably exceeds the number of Iranians. Many BCs are issued as replacements for reportedly lost BCs, and there is little to prevent people from using the duplicate BCs to vote at two different polling stations. Also, some Iranians do not invalidate their relatives' BCs after they die. In the last presidential election, reformist sources announced that more than two million fraudulent BCs may have been used. With these and other questionable practices, it is abundantly clear that Iran's election procedures leave ample opportunity for massive voter fraud.
2009-06-11 06:00:00
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