Iranian MP Reveals Elections Fraud and Vote-Buying in Recent Polls

An Iranian MP who lost her re-election bid last week has revealed that the elections were marred with violations.

Somayeh Mahmoudi said that peoples' national ID numbers were used to cast votes without their knowledge.

"I heard reports of national ID cards being taken from my city and used for voting in neighbouring areas," she said in an interview with Shargh newspaper on March 7. "Additionally, some individuals were able to cast multiple votes."

Mahmoudi further accused the elections of being marred by money laundering, stating that "votes were bought and sold for amounts ranging from 100,000 ($1.60) to 1.5 million ($25) tomans. Voters were also offered gift packages."

"The elections in Shahreza failed to achieve fair and transparent standards," she said of her constituency in central Isfahan province. 

Former MP Jalal Rashidi Kochi has also acknowledged that "vote-buying has been an issue for some time."

The March 1 elections were met with widespread boycotts by activists and government critics.