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May 14, 2009
Historical Data on Iranian Presidential Elections
In the U.S., individuals can run for president as long as they are over the age of 35 and are natural-born U.S. citizens. In Iran, however, an unelected body known as the Guardian Council [see here for more information on how the Council works] handpicks a small group of candidates out of a large number of applicants. Only those with the Council's imprimatur can then campaign and compete for the presidency.
Here, we present data compiled by Ali Alfoneh as part of his upcoming AEI Middle East Outlook on the Iranian presidential elections. No other source has pulled together this information for American audiences.
Date |
Number of eligible voters |
Voter turnout in numbers |
Number of applicants for candidacy |
Number and names of candidates approved by the Guardian Council |
President elect and personal votes in numbers |
January 25, 1980 |
20,993,643 |
14,152,887 (67.42%) |
124 |
8 Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, Daryoush Forouhar, Hassan Habibi, Ahmad Madani, Mohammad Mokri, Kazem Samii, and Sadegh Tabatabai,[1] |
Abol-Hassan Bani-Sadr: 10,753,752 |
July 24, 1981 |
22,687,017 |
14,573,803 (64.24%) |
71 |
4 Habib-Allah Asgar-Owladi Mosalman, Ali-Asghar Parvaresh, Mohammad-Ali Rajai, and Abbas Sheibani, [2] |
Mohammad-Ali Rajai: 12,770,050 |
October 2, 1981 |
22,687,017 |
16,847,717 (74.26%) |
46 |
4 Hassan Ghafouri-Fard, Ali Khamenei, Ali-Asghar Parvaresh and Reza Zavarehi, [3] |
Ali Khamenei: 15,905,987 |
August 16, 1985 |
25,993,802 |
14,238,587 (54.78%) |
50 |
3 Habib-Allah Asgar-Owladi Mosalman, Mahmoud Kashani and Ali Khamenei, [4] |
Ali Khamenei: 12,205,012 |
July 28, 1989 |
30,139,598 |
16,452,677 (54.59%) |
79 |
2 Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Abbas Sheibani, [5] |
Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani: 15,550,528 |
June 11, 1993 |
33,156,055 |
16,796,787 (50.66%) |
128 |
4 Abdollah Jasbi, Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Taheri Motlagh and Ahmad Tavakkoli, [6] |
Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani: 10,566,499 |
May 23, 1997 |
36,466,487 |
29,145,754 (79.93%) |
238 |
4 Mohammad Khatami, Ali-Akbar Nategh-Nouri, Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri and Reza Zavarehi, [7] |
Mohammad Khatami: 20,138,784 |
June 8, 2001 |
42,170,230 |
28,081,930 (66.59%) |
814 |
10 Ali Fallahian, Hassan Ghafouri-Fard, Abdollah Jasbi, Mohammad Khatami, Ali Shamkhani and Ahmad Tavakkoli, [8] |
Mohammad Khatami: 21,659,053 |
June 17, 2005 |
46,786,418 |
29,400,857 (62.84%) |
1014 |
7 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani, Mohsen Mehr-Ali-Zadeh, Mostafa Moin, Mehdi Karrubi, Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf and Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, [9] |
- |
June 24, 2005 |
46,786,418 |
27,958,931 (59.76%) |
2 |
2 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, [10] |
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 17,284,782 |
June 12, 2009 |
Disputed |
NA |
475 |
NA |
NA |
Source: Where no other source is referred to the data is extracted from “Jadval-e Amari-ye Entekhabat-e Riasat-e Jomhouri-ye Bargozar-shodeh Pas Az Pirouzi-ye Enghelab-e Eslami,” [Statistical Table On Presidential Elections Held After The Islamic Revolution] Vezarat-e Keshvar-e Jomhouri-ye Eslami-ye Iran [Islamic Republic of Iran Interior Ministry] (Tehran) No date available, Available in Persian at: http://moi,ir/Portal/File/ShowFile,aspx?ID=fbb6e04f-3331-4b86-9347-5c4fd5a7d0c7 (Accessed May 3, 2009),
[1] David Menashri: Iran A Decade Of War And Revolution, New York and London: Holmes & Meir, 1990, P, 121,
[2] Ibid, pp, 185-186,
[3] Ibid, p, 191,
[4] Ibid, p, 342,
[5] “Amar-ha-ye Noh Dowreh Entekhabat-e Riyasat-Jomhouri Be Ma Che Migouyad?” [What Do Statistical Data From Nine Rounds Of Presidential Elections Tell Us?] Dowlat-e Dahom Website (Tehran) April 18, 2009, Available in Persian at: http://www,dolate10,com/News,asp?nid=916 (Accessed May 3, 2009),
[6] Ibid,
[7] Ibid,
[8] Ibid,
[9] Ibid,
[10] Ibid,
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