Its funny how they call this elections ! :drinking05:

<table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" align="left">Election fever running high in Iran </th></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> Source: Press TV (http://www.presstv.ir/) The fever of presidency is running high in Iran as prominent figures officially register their candidacy for the June 12 election.
Reformist Mehdi Karroubi

On Saturday, two-time Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi officially registered his candidacy for the 10th presidential election.
http://payvand.com/news/09/may/Candidate-Mehdi-Karrubi.jpg
Mehdi Karroubi (left) with Mohammad Ali Abtahi (center)
Karroubi, the Reformist leader of the National Confidence party, entered the presidential race with the campaign slogan 'Change' within the frameworks of the Islamic Revolution's Constitution.

Speaking to reporters after his registration, the 72-year-old candidate described the upcoming election as the "most important test" for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government and the Guardian Council -- the electoral and constitutional watchdog tasked with overseeing the elections and vetting presidential candidates before the final line-up is revealed.

Karroubi called on the Interior Ministry -- the body in charge of holding elections -- and the Guardian Council to remain impartial and be very careful in guarding the people's vote.

Karroubi also contested in the 2005 presidential election. The cleric was the speaker of Iran's Parliament (Majlis) between 1990 and 1992 and once more between 2000 and 2004.


Independent Mir-Hossein Moussavi
http://payvand.com/news/09/may/candidate-Mir-Hossein-Moussavi.jpg
On Saturday, Mir-Hossein Moussavi also registered in the Interior Ministry.

Known for his successful economic management in a tough period of war in the 80s, Moussavi said he entered the race as an "independent" hopeful to cross political boundaries.

"I have joined the race for presidential election to prevent political boundaries from imposing limitations on this clear path," Moussavi said.

As a vocal critic of President Ahmadinejad and his policies, the last Iranian prime minister criticized what he termed as an inappropriate situation in the country which is "not in the prestige of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution."

He also vowed to revive dignity of the Iranian nation and to uphold its rights.


Incumbent Principlist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
http://payvand.com/news/09/may/candidate-Ahmadinejad.jpg

After months of leaving his candidacy in a blur, President Ahmadinejad accepted the challenge on Friday and officially signed up to add another four-year term to his presidency.

Her had earlier urged the nation to use the election as an opportunity to strengthen unity.

"The elections should not promote pessimism in the country, but rather lead to the strengthening of national unity and solidarity," Ahmadinejad said Tuesday.

"No one is allowed to interfere in the electoral process or to negatively impact the right of the Iranian nation to decide who will lead them," he added.

Ahmadinejad's campaign focuses on the message of justice, morality and spirituality.


Independent Mohsen Rezaei
http://payvand.com/news/09/may/candidate-Mohsen-Rezaei.jpg

Secretary of the Expediency Council and the war-time commander of Iran's Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Mohsen Rezaei, has also decided to enter the presidential race.

On May 6, after months of efforts to introduce a coalition government before the election day, Rezaei announced his bid to challenge the incumbent president and on Friday registered his candidacy.

He has said that he joined the presidential race to save the country from "the path of destruction" taken by the current administration.

"The truth is that our nation has two very different paths at hand. If President Ahmadinejad gets his way, we will fall off the cliff … we will be defeated," Rezaei said on May 3.


The Election

Iran's presidential elections will take place on June 12. It will be the tenth since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 that ended the reign of the country's monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

More than 250 people have so far enrolled as candidates for the June 12 election, since registration officially opened May 5.

The registered candidates will be vetted by the Guardian Council who are also in charge of supervising the elections. The influential body will announce the final list of approved candidates on May 20th and 21st.
</td></tr></tbody></table>

A man (Mehdi RezAei) who wants to be the Prez. of a regional influential nation with 70 Mil. population has not been able to protect his own birth certificate and lost it for good. Note the word "AlmossanA" on his B.C.....LOL
He would've lost it in an inferno but I don't remember hearing any thing about his house being on fire.
Being a pAsdAr he probably sold the original B.C for a hefty price to some one who wanted to skip the country under false identification.
I'll take Moosavi over any of these clowns.

i've asked this question a couple of times before but have never gotten a satisfying answer?

Is there any evidence that the voters actually have a say in who the elected officials are? In other words, lets say that the majority vote for Mr. X. Are the people counting the votes (i.e the government) going to say that it was indeed Mr. X who won? Or are they going to run the candidates by rahbar and the top level Sepah officials to have them choose who they want?

i've asked this question a couple of times before but have never gotten a satisfying answer?

Is there any evidence that the voters actually have a say in who the elected officials are? In other words, lets say that the majority vote for Mr. X. Are the people counting the votes (i.e the government) going to say that it was indeed Mr. X who won? Or are they going to run the candidates by rahbar and the top level Sepah officials to have them choose who they want?

there IS no elections. its all staged. Yek mosht adame badbakht bara yek loghme noon va mohr to shenasnamashon mirizan to khiaboona.

Finall call is by Rahbar. the majlis & president have no saying when Rahbar speaks. remember in khatami time, when majlis passed a bill to give press a bit freedom of speech, the rahbar vetoed it.

As long as people cant choose the top head, which is the so-called God's gift to the people, then there is no elections.

there IS no elections. its all staged. Yek mosht adame badbakht bara yek loghme noon va mohr to shenasnamashon mirizan to khiaboona.


Are they still doing that? Stamping BC's if you vote?

i've asked this question a couple of times before but have never gotten a satisfying answer?

Is there any evidence that the voters actually have a say in who the elected officials are? In other words, lets say that the majority vote for Mr. X. Are the people counting the votes (i.e the government) going to say that it was indeed Mr. X who won? Or are they going to run the candidates by rahbar and the top level Sepah officials to have them choose who they want?
Ramin jAn,
Number of the votes at the end of election will be irrelevant while the entire election process is conducted illegally.
During the Shah's rein election had always been under influence of big landlords, rich families, high ranking military generals and other mafia like groups.
In accordance with IRI constitution Guardian Council is responsible for supervising the election to make sure certain group or party will not have any unlawful influence in the outcome of the election.
But Guardian Council has taken this assignment to the extreme and instead of "Supervision" has decided to vet the candidates.
Article 99 of IRI constitution clearly indicates that Guardian Council should "Supervise" the election and NOT inject any influence of its own.
When they vet the candidates they inject a super heavy influence and let certain group (Islamist) win the election. Basically they are doing exact same thing which they have been created to prevent.
Here is the article 99 of IRI constitution:

Article 99

The Guardian Council has the responsibility of supervising the elections of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership, the President of the Republic, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the direct recourse to popular opinion and referendum.

Note!! There is nothing in this article about checking and/or judging candidates, let alone vetting them.
My conclusion: When the threshold of conducting a certain process starts with unlawful activities the whole legality of that process goes down the drain.

Ramin jAn,
Number of the votes at the end of election will be irrelevant while the entire election process is conducted illegally.
During the Shah's rein election had always been under influence of big landlords, rich families, high ranking military generals and other mafia like groups.
In accordance with IRI constitution Guardian Council is responsible for supervising the election to make sure certain group or party will not have any unlawful influence in the outcome of the election.
But Guardian Council has taken this assignment to the extreme and instead of "Supervision" has decided to vet the candidates.
Article 99 of IRI constitution clearly indicates that Guardian Council should "Supervise" the election and NOT inject any influence of its own.
When they vet the candidates they inject a super heavy influence and let certain group (Islamist) win the election. Basically they are doing exact same thing which they have been created to prevent.
Here is the article 99 of IRI constitution:



Note!! There is nothing in this article about checking and/or judging candidates, let alone vetting them.
My conclusion: When the threshold of conducting a certain process starts with unlawful activities the whole legality of that process goes down the drain.

Motori jaan it's really a blessing having a member such as yourself here who is knowledgable on such a broad range of subjects.

Thank you for the info on who is supposed to supervise the elections and to what extent that they are supposed to due so. But my question was a bit different.

I wanted to know if these elections are nothing but a show (a show of democracy). I mean, do they even count the votes? Or is it all a farse, as toofan says?

Motori jaan it's really a blessing having a member such as yourself here who is knowledgable on such a broad range of subjects.

Thank you for the info on who is supposed to supervise the elections and to what extent that they are supposed to due so. But my question was a bit different.

I wanted to know if these elections are nothing but a show (a show of democracy). I mean, do they even count the votes? Or is it all a farse, as toofan says?
Ramin jAn,
I understood your question and wanted to point out that counting the votes will not matter when the whole election is being carried out in a manner against constitution. But Yes! They do count the votes hence the run off between Rafi and AN, ministry of interior is in charge of conducting all aspect of the election. Now here are 2 of the rumors flying around.
During last presidential election one of my relatives was among the volunteers helping around ballet boxes and he told me that boxes weighed different, meaning some of them were lot heavier than the others.

It is widely believed that regime has over 5 million forged birth certificates made just for determining the outcome of any election.

Never mind the rumors, as long as IRI does not allow one or more internationally sanctioned institute to overlook election process in Iran I will not accept it is legit.

What will they do to karoubi? He has a strong team including karbaschi.
________
Brunette videos (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/15/brunette/videos/1)

What will they do to karoubi? He has a strong team including karbaschi.
One of the second grade reformers should (willl drop out, either Karoubi or rezae'i.
If they both stay in the race I would give around a mil. vote to Karoubi and about 120,000 to Rezae'i. He is probably counting on the vote from IRGC and Basij but major block of that vote will go to AN directly.
I think we can pretty much anticipate what will shape up in near future. It will be Mousavi head to head with AN.

there IS no elections. its all staged. Yek mosht adame badbakht bara yek loghme noon va mohr to shenasnamashon mirizan to khiaboona.

Finall call is by Rahbar. the majlis & president have no saying when Rahbar speaks. remember in khatami time, when majlis passed a bill to give press a bit freedom of speech, the rahbar vetoed it.

As long as people cant choose the top head, which is the so-called God's gift to the people, then there is no elections.
That is why they are so confused and every single group and/or religious body is playing its own music while running in circles scratching their bald heads.
There is no elections in islam and the term "Islamic Republic" is an oxymoron. It can NOT be an islamic and a republic at the same time, islamic is governance of allah and republic is governance of people. They are trying rather hard to keep these 2 glued together and it not holding up so well.

No so called political act has had any authentication in Iran since 1979 since the country is under the ocuppation of a foreign force.

Unfortunately, our nearly destoryed culture, has been under occupation for centuries.

This so called circus of election will have no meaning unless the people of Iran rise up against this foreign force and exterminate them out of existence.