The Iranian Ministry of Interior announced that polling stations closed their doors at midnight of Friday- Saturday, in the second round of the Iranian presidential elections, with 50% of the Iranian population participating, Shafaq News reports.
Initial information indicates that the reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, is leading in the preliminary vote count.
The Iranian news agency Mehr quoted the spokesperson for the election headquarters, Mohsen Eslami, saying: "Preliminary reports indicate that about 50 percent of the Iranian people participated in the second round of the fourteenth presidential election."
He added, "The voting deadline has ended, so the officials are obliged to allow those present in the queue at the branches to vote. Once it is confirmed that no one else is in line to vote, the vote counting will begin."
Eslami continued, "Given that there are two candidates in this stage, the vote counting process will be easier, and we will announce the final result before noon on Saturday."
He noted that the exact participation rate will be officially announced after midnight by adding the participation statistics from abroad and those of the individuals who attended and voted at the polling stations.
Competing in the second round today, July 5, are candidates Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, who led the electoral race in the first round.
Iran is holding early presidential elections following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.
Earlier yesterday, Polls opened Friday for Iran's runoff presidential election, the interior ministry said, pitting reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili in the race to succeed Ebrahim Raisi.
The Islamic Republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, cast his ballot when the polls opened at 08:00 a.m. (0430 GMT), state TV showed.
"We are starting the second round of the 14th presidential election to choose the future president from among the two candidates across 58,638 polling stations in the country and all stations abroad," Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said.
In last week's first round, Pezeshkian, the only reformist permitted to stand, won the largest number of ballots, around 42 percent, while the former nuclear negotiator Jalili came in second place with 39 percent, according to figures from Iran's elections authority. The winner must secure 50% plus one vote for an outright win.
The conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf came in third place with 13.8 percent, while cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi garnered less than one percent.
On Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei called for a higher turnout in the runoff. "The second round of the presidential election is very important," he said in a video carried by state TV. He noted participation was "not as expected" in the first round but emphasized it was not an act "against the system."
Iran's presidential election was originally scheduled for 2025 but was brought forward by the death of ultraconservative president Raisi in a May helicopter crash.
The rival candidates in the runoff have held two debates discussing Iran's economic woes, international relations, the low voter turnout, and internet restrictions. Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon who has represented the northwestern city of Tabriz in parliament since 2008, has earned the support of Iran's main reformist coalition, with former reformist presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani declaring their backing for his bid.
Jalili, 58, has rallied a substantial base of hardline supporters and received backing from Ghalibaf and two other ultraconservative candidates who dropped out of the race before the first round.
Regardless of the result, Iran's next president will be responsible for applying state policy outlined by the supreme leader, who wields ultimate authority in the country.
