Voting hours were extended three times before closing at midnight in Iran on July 5 in a runoff presidential election being held after no candidate secured enough votes to be declared the outright winner of the June 28 vote, which saw a record-low turnout
Polling stations were scheduled to close at 6 p.m. local time. However, voting was initially extended to 8 p.m., then to 10 p.m., then a third time to midnight. Voting hours are often extended in Iranian elections.
At midnight, state TV said polling stations had officially closed but that voters inside would still be able to drop off ballots.
Initial results are likely to come out shortly after voting ends, with final results scheduled to be announced on July 6.
The election, which was triggered by the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May, has come down to a choice between the reformist veteran lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian and hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
It comes at a time when Iranians are contending with a lack of freedoms, declining living standards, and a faltering economy.
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Reformist And Hard-Liner In Iranian Presidential Election Runoff Amid Record-Low Voter Turnout
Jalili serves as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s personal representative on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). He was the SNSC’s secretary between 2007 and 2013, during which time he led the Iranian delegation in failed talks with the West on Tehran’s nuclear program.
He represents the hard-line part of the conservative camp and has never held elected office.
Pezeshkian has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as deputy speaker between 2016 and 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.
He has questioned Iran’s methods of enforcing the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, for women, and spoken in favor of negotiating with the West. But he also supports the principles of the Islamic republic and says he will follow Khamenei’s policies if elected.
SEE ALSO: Who Is Masud Pezeshkian, Iran's President-Elect?The outcome of the election is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, but it could have an impact on the succession to the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989.
The first round of voting saw a record-low turnout of 39.9 percent, despite calls by Khamenei for a high voter participation to project an image of a strong Iran where its people back the political establishment.
Khamenei reiterated that message on July 3, when he acknowledged that first-round turnout was "not as expected" but denied the lack of voter interest reflected unpopularity for Iran's leadership.
He called the vote "very important," adding, "Those who love Islam and the Islamic republic and the progress of the country must show it by taking part in the election."
SEE ALSO: Who Is Saeed Jalili, The Hard-Line Candidate In Iran's Runoff Vote For President?Khamenei, who has the final say on all official matters in Iran, cast his vote at a mobile polling station at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran in the first minutes after voting started on July 5.
"I've heard that people's enthusiasm and interest are higher than in the first round," Khamenei said. "May God make it this way as this will be gratifying news."
One man who asked not to be identified told RFE/RL he did not participate in the first round of voting but that he cast a ballot for Pezeshkian in this round.
Sepideh, a 19-year-old university student in Tehran, told Reuters: "I will not vote. This is a big NO to the Islamic Republic because of Mahsa [Amini]. I want a free country, I want a free life."
The 2022 death in custody of Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman, sparked massive street protests throughout Iran, leading to a brutal crackdown by authorities.
The Islamic republic has long maintained it derives its legitimacy from strong voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and deadly antiestablishment protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.
Pezeshkian finished the first round with 10.5 million votes, above Jalili’s 9.5 million. But he also benefited from the splitting of the conservative vote, with 3.4 million votes going to parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf who has since endorsed Jalili.
However, there is no guarantee that all of Qalibaf’s votes will swing to Jalili since they represent vastly different groups in the highly factionalized conservative camp.
SEE ALSO: To Vote Or Not To Vote? Iranians Mull Continuing Presidential Election BoycottPezeshkian’s campaign has been trying to increase turnout by convincing people who boycotted the first round to vote in the runoff. His supporters have sought to highlight what they see as the dangers of a hard-line figure like Jalili coming to power, arguing that his administration will enact repressive policies and further isolate Iran.
Jalili's supporters have portrayed Pezeshkian as a man who is soft on the West and will make Iranian progress dependent on good relations with Western nations.
Dissidents have urged the public to continue their boycott of the vote, insisting that elections in Iran are neither free nor fair and that past votes have failed to instigate change since ultimate power lies with Khamenei.
Raisi, who many Iranians refer to as the "Butcher of Tehran" for his alleged role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was Tehran's deputy prosecutor, died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials when their helicopter crashed on May 19.