Ahmadinejad Overwhelmingly re-elected in Iran.

Even if there were some irregularities these results show the election was not even close. The opposition no doubt had some real strength in some of the cities and among younger more westernised voters but this was probably outweighed by support for the president in the rural areas and among the devout--although apparently there was also a conservative challenger as well. The western press covering the elections that I saw seemed to concentrate upon showing the large demonstrations for both sides but one segment did show the strong support for Ahmadinejad in a rural area. He also has strong support among the poor. No doubt the Western media will still often refer to him as a dictator. Strange that the Saudi ruler is never called a dictator even though he was never elected. I wonder why that is !


Govt: Ahmadinejad overwhelmingly re-elected in Iran.


Opposition Contests Results, Complains Not All Were Able to Vote
by Jason Ditz, June 12, 2009

Despite an enormous turnout and a premature declaration of victory from challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, preliminary results from the election commission say that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won reelection by a wide margin.


Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voting in today's electionAn official declaration is not expected to be made until some time on Saturday, but with more than 60 percent of the nation’s nearly 33 million votes counted, the incumbent is say to be leading by more than a 2-to-1 margin (66 percent to 31 percent) and is only 2.5 million votes from being guaranteed to obtain the majority needed to avoid a run-off election next week.

Mousavi had previously insisted that he was the “certain winner” of the election, and is now complaining of unspecified widespread voting irregularities. The polls were kept open an extra four hours to accommodate the unprecedented turnout but complaints remain, particularly from the Mousavi camp, that the polls were closed too soon and not everyone was able to vote.

Still, the enormous majority apparently won by President Ahmadinejad seems to have left little doubt that the polls predicting his victory have proven accurate. The ability to maintain that majority even amid a high turnout seen to favor the challenger underscores his popularity, particularly in rural and poorer areas.

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