An influential cleric and the representative of the country's supreme leader in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi has called those who didn't vote in recent elections "inconsequential," even though they comprised almost 60 percent of the electorate as turnout hit a record low.
Ahmad Alamolhoda, who serves as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the city of Mashhad, a significant Shi'ite center, was quoted by the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as criticizing the 59 percent of voters who did not cast ballots in the elections for not adhering to the "orders and command" of Khamenei.
Senior leaders pleaded with Iranians to show up en masse at the polls as Iran's theocracy is scrambling to restore its legitimacy in the wake of the 2022 repression and amid deteriorating economic conditions.
However, voter apathy, along with general dissatisfaction over living standards and a clampdown on basic human rights in Iran, has been growing for years, while many prominent figures, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, called for a boycott of the elections, labeling them as superficial and predetermined.
"In Islam, a majority is not inherently acceptable," Alamolhoda said, adding that the "preferred majority" is one that is "devout and committed, as opposed to one that is rebellious and dissenting."
The March 1 elections for a new parliament, or Majlis, and a new Assembly of Experts, which elects Iran's supreme leader, were the first since the deadly nationwide protests erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022. She was detained for an alleged violation of the Islamic dress code.
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent political activist currently incarcerated in Tehran's Evin prison, described the vote as a "historic failure" for the country's leaders that was directly attributable Khamenei, whose policies have sparked widespread public discontent with the Islamic republic.
Analysts and activists said the elections were “engineered” because only candidates vetted and approved by the Guardians Council were allowed to run. The council is made up of six clerics and six jurists who are all appointed directly and indirectly by Khamenei.
Official statistics released by the Ministry of Interior revealed that voter turnout exceeded 50 percent in only eight of the country's 31 provinces. In the Iranian capital of Tehran, the election faced a lukewarm reception from the public, with the Interior Ministry's statistics indicating that only about 26 percent of eligible voters participated.
Additionally, there were reports of a significant amount of invalid votes in Tehran and other major cities, although the Interior Ministry has withheld specific data related to the ballots.
In a display of dissent against the status quo, many Iranians deliberately spoiled their ballots as a form of anti-government protest.