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IRANIAN AUTHORITIES PIONEER MULTIPLE VOTE SYSTEM

June 23 2009

Tehran, Iran –The essential design of democracy revolves around the liberty of the individual. By removing the power of the few and putting into the hands of the many, Democracy has flourished in the modern world. Advances in education standards and
mass communication through tools like the internet have given a new life to concepts such as democracy. With awareness of the ability to embrace liberty for the individual becomes more and more widespread, so too does democracy.

There is no country where that is more apparent than in Iran. With daily outbursts of excitement over the election process which has left two men claiming to be President, the continued hubbub over the results have proven to the world that Iran has embraced Democracy
in its own particular way. With a new revelation by the Guardian Council that the number of votes exceeded to number of eligible voters in 50 cities, the Iranian government has once again proven their embrace of Democracy. Though the council has thus far denied the claims from Mir Hossein Mousavi, the principle opponent to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that extra votes were counted in 170 cities, it is believed that the 50 districts will be enough to show the world how serious they are about the democratic process.

“As I watched people were handing two, three, and sometimes four ballots. There’s no way of knowing what name was marked on the ballots but the fact that so many
people wanted to vote so many times shows that the people of Iran have embraced democracy. It’s not just the displays in the streets, people throughout the country have shown their love of democracy with action by voting over and over again,” said Scrape TV Middle Eastern Embedded correspondent Niyoosha Ebtehaj. “Election officials at many voting booths were standing there with books of ballots thrusting them into the hands of anyone who showed up. From what I’ve seen recently they’ve continued to hand out ballots even this long after the election in hopes of encouraging the democratic process. It really is quite remarkable.”

It’s believed that the more humble claim from the Guardian Council is due to a growing humility amongst members of the Iranian government with many not wanting to ‘show off’ while the world’s attention is on them.

“They believe so firmly in the process that there were armed guards at many of the polling stations forcing people to take multiple ballots. That show of strength proved
to many people who were a little sketchy on the process that it was alright to vote as many times as they wanted. I even observed people taking ballots for children that had to come with their parents to the voting booth. That will set up a whole new generation of voters,” continued Ebtehaj. “In all my years covering elections I have never seen this kind of turnout. Most countries have problems with not enough people turning out but like many things in Iran, they have found a way around that as well. The Iranians are truly renovating democracy for the modern age.”

Additionally it is believed that many of the single ballots cast were counted multiple times, allowing those who were unaware of the new procedure to not miss out on their opportunity.

“There is a kind of proactive nature to this who process which is really fresh and original. In the United States votes that don’t meet the specific requirements of the
process are usually just tossed out. The counters don’t even guess at the attempt. If a ballot is improperly punched or supporting the wrong candidate it is simply destroyed but the level of customer service and action that the Iranians are taking really sets a standard for the rest of the world,” said Scrape TV Political analyst Gabriel Kinsey. “With all the reforms that have taken place in the U.S. it will be interesting to see if some of the Iranian influence rubs off on them. True the two countries have been at odds for years but one thing the Americans have always excelled at is taking good ideas and making them great. This could be another great innovation if they are able to implement it successfully.”

It is believed that the majority of the multiple votes were all cast for incumbent President Ahmadinejad, something particularly redeeming for the man who invented the multiple vote process.      

Emil Uliya, International Correspondent

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