Iran Focus, Iran
June 24 2005

Iran’s fourth largest city spends quiet election day
Fri. 24 Jun 2005

Iran Focus

Tabriz, Iran, Jun. 24 – Polling stations across this north-western
metropolis and capital of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province remained
quiet throughout the day, as the local population by and large
ignored the second round of presidential elections in Iran.

A tour of the city at different times of the day between 9 am and 4
pm showed that there were only a handful of voters in most centres,
with the security forces often outnumbering the voters. In one of the
city’s main thoroughfares, Abressan Avenue, two polling centres had
no one turning up to vote between 10 am and 2 pm.

In Imam Sadegh Mosque, Hannaneh Primary School, Dehkhoda School, and
Masjede Ghariblar, all in downtown Tabriz, the number of voters at
any given time varied between one and four.

The only polling station with a large crowd was Salar-e Shahidan
Mosque, the gathering point for members of Ansar-e Hezbollah, the
state-organized gangs of Islamic vigilantes.

In Taleghani Street, Shahidi Mosque and Imamzadeh Mosque there were a
handful of voters in the afternoon.

The polling station at Shahnaz Intersection, a district populated by
ethnic Armenians, was completely deserted.

People walking in the streets or sitting in cafes and restaurants
smiled and congratulated one another on the evident victory of
boycott calls. Some joked that the state radio and television would
be announcing an extension of voting deadline to deal with `the huge
turnout’.

Observers believe that if the voting pattern in other cities were
broadly similar to what has been going on in Tabriz, Tehran’s mayor
would stand a better chance than former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.
While the vast majority of ordinary voters have stayed away from the
polls, the small minority who support the radical clerics have come
out to vote for their favourite candidate, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.