Iran Probe Results To Be Released June 24
The findings of Iran's investigation into the disputed presidential election results will be released on Wednesday, the conservative news agency Mehr reports.
The Guardian Council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has finished examining all the complaints filed.
Although the final results of the probe won't be released until Wednesday, the Guardian Council said no special problems were discovered regarding the distribution of ballot papers, according to spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhoda'I. The council also concluded that the complaints alleging discrepancies in total votes and eligible voters in some regions are unfounded because people are not legally required to vote in their place of residence.
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According to the news agency, it was decided that some of the ballot boxes would be randomly recounted and if the discrepancy turns out to be significant, the rest of the boxes would be recounted.
The council previously announced that it was ready to randomly recount 10 per cent of the votes.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi favors an independent probe, alleging the Guardian Council is not neutral and has already indicated it supports Ahmadinejad.
Below if the text of the report in English by the Iranian conservative news agency Mehr:
Tehran, 22 June: Guardian Council spokesman, Abbas Ali Kadkhoda'i said on Monday [22 June] that the GC will announce its final position on the complaints about the presidential election results on Wednesday [24 June].
The GC has received different reports and complaints from three presidential candidates, such as claims that there were delays in the distribution of ballot papers, but the GC has now examined all of the complaints, he added.
The Guardian Council invited candidates Mirhoseyn Musavi, Mahdi Karrubi, and Mohsen Reza'i to attend a meeting last Saturday [20 June] to elaborate on their complaints but only Reza'i showed up.
On the complaints about the distribution of ballot papers, Kadkhoda'i explained, It was found that there have been no special problems (in this regard), except one or two cases of a 40-minute delay in provinces such as Yazd and Isfahan.
Commenting on the complaints that some of the representatives of the candidates were expelled from polling stations, Kadkhoda'i stated that the GC determined that they were expelled for interfering in administrative affairs or because they arrived at polling stations too late.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated that Reza'i asked the GC to recount some of the ballot boxes in a number of provinces and said, It was decided that some of the boxes be randomly recounted and if the discrepancy turns out to be significant, we are ready to recount the rest of the boxes. We do not regard ourselves as infallible and we do not conceal anything from the people.
The GC previously announced that it was ready to randomly recount 10 per cent of the votes.
In response to the complaints that the number of votes in some provinces exceeded the number of eligible voters, Kadkhoda'i explained that this occurred because there was no law requiring people to vote in their place of residence and people can vote anywhere in the country.
It was decided that a number of inspectors should go to the Statistics Organization (to examine the issue). However, the total of the votes in these constituencies amounts to three million votes, which cannot change the results of the election, he stated.
The GC spokesman also urged the candidates to pursue their protests through legal channels.
We are ready to examine the complaints and give convincing answers, provided that they (the candidates) act within the legal framework. There is still time and we are ready to hold a meeting to hear the views of the two candidates (Musavi and Karrubi).