“The good turnout in the second round allowed us to surpass the level of the first round,” he said on IRIB television.
Let us recall that in the first round more than 24.5 million people went to cast their vote in more than 58 thousand polling stations open throughout the republic and abroad. Thus, the turnout was then around 40%.
Two candidates are vying for the post of Iranian president in the runoff: the representative of the Islamic Republic’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, member of the Council for the Determination of Political Expediency Said Jalili, representing the conservative wing, and former Health Minister and MP Masoud Pezeshkian, who advocates a country of reforms.
According to Iranian media, the activity of voters in the second round of elections has increased significantly, with long queues of people wishing to vote at polling stations now forming. Due to the increasing flow of voters in the late afternoon, the Iranian authorities decided to extend the opening hours of polling stations three times. The last time it was announced that Iranians will be able to vote for their candidate until midnight (23:30 Moscow time). In the first round of the early presidential election, which took place on June 28, polling stations also did not close until midnight local time.
