Iranians went to the ballot boxes on Friday to elect 208 out of 290 Iranian parliamentarians – the remainder will be elected in April. More specifically, one-third of eligible voters bothered to do so, and according to videos making the rounds online, many of them were soldiers bused to the voting stations.
That the hardline conservatives won the majority of seats in the Majlis is a surprise to no one. Not only did regime opponents stay home, but they also had no one to vote for in any case.
The Islamic republic holds parliamentary elections every four years, and the president, who heads the Majlis, is also elected every four years. The Council of Experts – the deliberative body that oversees the supreme leader of Iran and will eventually choose his replacement – holds elections every eight years. A celebration of democracy, indeed. Putting a damper on this party, however, is a tiny council known as the Guardian Council of the Constitution. Its 12 members are directly or indirectly appointed by the supreme leader. They approve (or disapprove) the laws passed by the Majlis, and they filter the candidates running in every election. They also learn from their own mistakes.
For example, after reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi didn't win in 2009 and all his supporters and regime opponents took to the streets, in 2013 the Guardian Council of the Constitution filtered the candidate list to exclude all "problematic" contenders. This facilitated the election of current President Hassan Rouhani – the most moderate of all the filtered candidates, who wasn't perceived as a threat to the regime.
In the wake of the 2016 election, in which the reformists flooded the Majlis, the Guardian Council of the Constitution filtered out the reformists, including 90 serving parliamentarians. Iranians seeking change simply had no one for whom to vote.
Additionally, for years many Iranians didn't vote at all, viewing it as tacit support for the system. After 2009 and the "where's my voice" protest, we saw greater voter turnout in 2013 (which was one of the reasons Rouhani won), and indeed, Khamenei was quick to congratulate and declare that the real winners in the election were the Iranian people. He didn't forget to mention that high voter turnout indicates the public's faith in the system.
The current election race, which is coming on the heels of two gigantic protest waves – in November, over gas prices, and in January, over the regime's attempt to cover up its role in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airline – was largely characterized by immense resistance to the false presentation of democracy.
We saw photos and video footage of election banners being ripped up and torched, windows at various campaign headquarters being shattered, and slogans saying "I don't vote."
The hardliner takeover of the Majlis would have happened regardless. The miniscule voter turnout rate points to the severe and persistent crisis of faith between the regime and the people. Is change around the corner? It's one day closer than yesterday.
