Presidential Elections

Iran’s constitution provides for a directly elected president serving a four-year term, with only one immediately consecutive reelection permitted. An absolute majority is required; otherwise, the leading candidates proceed to a runoff the following Friday. The Guardian Council supervises the election. The president heads the executive, except in matters reserved to the Supreme Leader. Electing a president therefore does not transfer all state authority to the winner. s1

Participation arrangements are geographically flexible. International IDEA’s pre-election factsheet for the 2024 contest states that voters could present identity cards and vote anywhere, rather than being confined to an individually assigned polling location. It also records overseas voting and mobile voting arrangements, and identifies voting as voluntary. These are descriptions of that election’s arrangements, not instructions for a future voter. s2

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The early election held on 28 June 2024 produced no majority winner. Four candidates participated, and Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili advanced to the second round. Voting in the runoff took place on 5 July. Reporting the announced result, Reuters recorded 16,384,403 votes for Pezeshkian and 13,538,179 for Jalili, from 30,530,157 ballots counted. These are reported administrative totals, rather than the results of an independent ballot audit. s3

Pezeshkian brought experience in both parliament and government: he had served as a legislator, parliamentary deputy speaker, and health minister. His victory illustrates why an Iranian presidential contest cannot be understood solely as a contest between fixed political parties. The candidates’ public records, factional associations, and perceived differences in governing approach also matter. s3s4

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Radio Farda reported turnout of approximately 40 percent in the first round and 49.8 percent in the runoff. The increase accompanied a campaign effort to persuade first-round abstainers to participate. Pezeshkian’s supporters presented his candidacy as a way to resist a more restrictive governing approach, while Jalili’s supporters criticized his orientation toward engagement with Western countries. These were competing campaign arguments, not demonstrated forecasts of what either administration would accomplish. s4

The distinction between electoral competition and unrestricted political choice remains essential. The result changed who would lead the elected executive, but it did not remove the authority of the Supreme Leader. Radio Farda also reported the United States government’s criticism that the election was neither free nor fair; that assessment should be attributed to its speaker rather than presented as an election-administration finding. s4

For readers, the useful questions are separate: how the votes were counted, what choices reached the ballot, how many eligible voters participated, and what authority the winner could exercise. A result can establish the successful candidate without, by itself, establishing public approval of every institution or policy. s1s3s4

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