2021 Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat, Eslamshahr and Pardis by-election explained

Election Name:2021 Tehran by-election
Country:Iran
Type:By-election
Election Date:18 June 2021
Seats For Election:The vacant seat for Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat, Eslamshahr and Pardis
Triggered by death of Fatemeh Rahbar
Previous Election:Iranian legislative election, 2020 (Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr)
Previous Year:2020
Candidate1:Esmaeil Kousari
Party1:FIRS
Popular Vote1:346,645
Percentage1:19.44%
Colour1:no
Candidate2:Hamid Rasaei
Party2:FIRS
Popular Vote2:261,810
Percentage2:14.68%
Colour2:no
Candidate3:Alireza Mahjoub
Party3:WH
Popular Vote3:98,823
Percentage3:5.54%
Colour3:no
MP
Posttitle:Subsequent MP
After Election:Esmaeil Kousari
Next Election:Iranian legislative election, 2024 (Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr)
Next Year:2024

A by-election for the Islamic Consultative Assembly's constituency Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat, Eslamshahr and Pardis was held on 18 June 2021, to fill the vacancy caused by death of Fatemeh Rahbar. The voters cast their ballots along with the 2021 Iranian presidential election, the election for the City Council of Tehran, as well as another by-election for the Assembly of Experts.

It was won by Esmaeil Kousari, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who had recently resigned from his office, and was officially supported by the conservative alliance Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces. Two former MPs for the constituency, conservative Hamid Rasaei and Alireza Mahjoub of the Worker House ended up in the second and third place respectively.

The by-election had a low turnout, and is thought to have had an unprecedented number of invalid votes.

Results

The top ten candidates out of 202 who ran for the seat, were:

CandidatePartyVotes%
1Esmaeil KousariFront of Islamic Revolution Stability346,64519.44
2Hamid RasaeiFront of Islamic Revolution Stability261,81014.68
3Alireza MahjoubWorker House98,8235.54
4Ali Karbasi20,8561.16
5Zahra Saeidi-MobarakehZeynab Society16,1120.90
6Amir Aghasi9,4530.05
7Alireza Yazdani6,5140.03
8Asghar Azoureh5,9940.03
9Mehdi Marashi5,7890.03
10Reza Vahedi5,4720.03
Blank/Invalid votesNot Declared
Total Votes1,783,003100
Source: [1]

Notes and References

  1. https://tehran.ostan-th.ir/uploads/user/20/image/1400/%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87/%D9%86%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%AC%D9%87%20%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%85%2078_%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%8C%20%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%8C%20%D8%B4%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%8C%20%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%B1%20%D9%88%20%D9%BE%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B3%20(1).pdf Ministry of Interior