Iran Awaits Elections Result: Turnout 65%

Source: Alalam TV, 15-03-2008
TEHRAN--Iran awaited the first results from the eighth parliamentary elections on Saturday as the official figures put the turnout at 65 percent.
The first results from smaller cities and towns were expected Saturday, although those for Tehran, which sends 30 MPs to the 290 seat parliament, could take several days, the interior ministry said.
Deputy Interior Minister Ali Reza Afshar described the turnout as "glorious" while government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said the final turnout figures would top 60 percent.
The turnout in parliamentary elections was 65 percent, far higher than in the last legislative vote four years ago, a top election official said.
"Around 65 percent of the electorate took part in the elections, which is more than the last election," said Habibollah Hassan Khanlou, the secretary of the interior ministry's election office.
Officials said the turnout figures were far higher than for the last general election in 2004, adding that such participation showed the West the country was unified amid mounting pressure by certain states.
Polls finally closed late on Friday night after being extended by several hours to cope with the number of people seeking to vote, officials said. Final turnout figures were expected on Saturday.
Some politicians said their informal exit polls suggested the United Front, the most pro-government group of candidates, was doing well in Tehran, where conservatives hold 26 of the capital's seats in the outgoing assembly.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cast his vote on Friday in the country's eighth round of parliamentary elections.
Ahmadinejad cast his vote in Tehran after returning from Senegal, where he attended the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit.
Addressing critics of the election, Ahmadinejad said that while the West may prefer to see reformists in government, the decision ultimately lay with the Iranian people.
The president also insisted that sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council would not sway the public's vote.
"They imagine that by having approved a resolution, they can influence people's decisions in the election," Ahmadinejad told reporters.
"It is regretful that they are this stupid, sometimes it really makes me laugh that they do not know the Iranian nation," he continued.
Some 4,500 candidates nationwide are running for parliament's 290 seats in Friday's vote.
An estimated 44 (m) million Iranians of over 18 years of age were eligible to vote.
One Tehran resident has said that foreign propaganda had motivated her to vote.
"When I see the foreigners' propaganda and their efforts to discourage Iranians from casting their ballots, I even become more motivated to vote so I will not make the enemies of Iran happy," she said.