Iran gears up for crucial elections amid high voter apathy, declining value of Rial, nationwide protests | 10 facts

livemint.com:

Iran as the country faces a multitude of challenges following a tumultuous period since the last parliamentary elections in 2020. This will be the first elections in Iran since the nationwide anti-government protests of 2022 that were triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini. The previous election in Iran in 2019 were held after major protests.

This 2024 polls have dawned upon the nation in the aftermath of the deadly September 2022 nationwide protests, which lasted for months and reverberated across the globe. The elections for the 12th parliament and the sixth Assembly of Experts on Friday are also taking place as Israel’s war on Gaza has openly pitted the “axis of resistance" of political and military groups across the region backed by Tehran against the US. -More than 61.2 million people are eligible to vote in a country of roughly 85 million.

-Polls will open across Iran at 8am local time (04:30 GMT) and will remain open for 10 hours as per the law. In the past, time for voting has always been extended, sometimes going past midnight when there is demand. -The votes cast on Friday in Iran will determine the 290 lawmakers who will make up the parliament for the next four years.

-Votes will also be cast for 88 clerics who will each take a seat for eight years at the Assembly of Experts, which is tasked with selecting the country’s supreme leader. -The incumbent lawmakers – comprising mostly conservatives and hardliners – were elected to parliament in a February 2020 election that saw a 42-percent turnout, the lowest since the establishment of the Islamic republic after Iran’s 1979 revolution. -Voter turnout is expected to be lowest tomorrow as voter frustration with the Iranian government has surged with increasing