Iranian polling stations opened at 8 am on Friday morning with plans to close at 6 pm, but due to the high voter turnout, the Interior Ministry decided to extend voting hours until 8 pm nationwide. With expectations of another extension, the first round of elections in June saw voting hours extended four times until midnight.
With over 61 million eligible voters and nearly 59,000 polling stations, Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili emerged as the top candidates facing off in the final showdown. The previous week saw a turnout of 39.92%, with a total of 24,535,185 votes cast.
This election comes sooner than anticipated, following the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in May. The untimely passing of President Raisi has set the stage for a significant political shift in Iran, with the current election playing a crucial role in determining the country’s future leadership.