International news: People of Iran will elect their president today

Parliamentary elections are being held in Shia Muslim majority country Iran on March 1 i.e. today. Today people will vote to elect the supreme leader of the country i.e. the President. Preparations for this have been completed. The country is facing a lot of challenges after the 2020 parliamentary elections. This election is being judged on the criteria of democratic reforms, disputes with western countries and poor economy.

How are elections held?
Elections are held in Iran every four years on the lines of the French electoral system. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round of voting, then in the second round, votes are cast for the two candidates who get the highest number of votes.

Who can vote and when?
Voters must be at least 18 years of age. More than 6.12 crore people are eligible to vote in the country with a population of about 8.5 crore. According to a report, voting will start in Iran from 8 am local time and the polling booth will remain open for 10 hours. However, if we look at earlier elections, the voting time is often extended as per the demand.

Polling stations and security measures
There will be 59 thousand polling stations across the country. Of these, 5,000 centers have been set up in Tehran and 6,800 in the wider province of Tehran. Electronic voting equipment will be used at 1,700 polling centres. The Interior Ministry has deployed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Basij forces along with the army for surveillance. It is being told that 2.5 lakh security forces personnel have been deployed.