Reports indicate that until 2:00 P.M., local time, many of the polling stations were deserted as only a few people went to vote. For example, in Tehran, in each of polling stations 4, 8, 16-18, 22, 25, 37, 73, 93, 94, 130,138, 177, 203, 205, 209, 222, 223, 232, 233, 236, 251, 285, 324, 336, 341, 374, 413, 414, 417, 424-433, 485, 487, 513, 519, 533, 534, 539, 542, 543, 587, 632-641, 655-660, 723-726, 752, 764, 787, 943, 944, 1002, 1102, 1370-1372, 1417,1418, 2498, 2610, 2611, 2613, 2621-2644, 2650, 2652, 2654, 2665, 2682-2685, 2709-2715 and 3027-3035 at most 10 people had shown up.
The situation in other cities, including Tabriz, Mashad, Khorramabad, Babol, Doroud, Shiraz, Rasht, Ardebil, Ahwaz, Arak and Qazvin, was similar to Tehran. For instance, in Shiraz, at most 12 people went to polling stations 4, 20, 23, 28, 30, 59, 73, 81, 89, 99, 139, 141, 142, 145, 148, and 165-170, in Qazvin 10 people to polling stations 4, 23, 66, 84 and 92, and in Tabriz, on the average 10 voters went to the polling stations 274-307.
In some of the stations, the regime had stationed between 15 to 20 agents from the Guards Corps and the State Security Forces to maintain control.
In the first round of the elections, only 3.5 million out of 37 million, less than 10% of the eligible voters, actually went to the polls. But the mullahs could not even accept the outcome of this sham election. The Council of Guardians canceled results from eight cities, where candidates other than those supporting the ruling faction were elected. In addition, in recent weeks, the regime arrested, flogged or fined a significant number of candidates and those involved in the campaign on the pretext of violating the election regulations.
The boycott of the election farce by the vast majority of the Iranian people again confirms the illegitimacy of the ruling religious, terrorist dictatorship.
In his message on the elections, Mr. Rajavi had declared: If the mullahs are true to their words and do not fear the Iranian people's genuine vote and choice, they should display no opposition to holding free elections under the auspices of the United Nations and other competent international bodies. In that case, the vast majority of the Iranian people will doubtless be inclined to vote for the democratic alternative, the National Council of Resistance, and its President-elect, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran - Paris April 19, 1996
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