1981 Presidential Election

Date of Election 24 July 1981
Number of Eligible Voters 22,687,017
Number of Actual Voters 14,573,803
Voter Turnout (%) 64.24
Number of Candidates Registered to Run 71
Number of Candidates Allowed to Run (1) 4
Percentage of Candidates Allowed to Run 5.63%
Election Winner Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Number and Percentage of Votes Received by Winner 12,779,050 (90.0%)
First Runner-Up Abbas Sheybani
First Runner-Up Number and Percentage of Votes Received 658,498 (4.53%)
Margin of Victory by the Winner 85.5%
Names and Votes of Other Candidates Seyyed Ali-Akbar Parvaresh, 339,646 (2.67%)

Habibollah Asgaroladi-Mosalman, 249,457 (1.72%)

Sources:

Ministry of Interior: http://www.moi.ir

http://www.etemaad.ir/Released/87-12-17/313.htm

http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8802260290

Notes:

Beginning with this election, the Guardian Council started to disqualify candidates.

There is no public data available on the number of female candidates who submitted their candidacy.

(1) Candidates submitting their candidacy are first vetted by the Ministry of Interior and then by the Guardian Council. The number we show under `candidates allowed to run` represents the number of candidates allowed to run after the vetting processes by both the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council are completed.

 

 Breakdown of Votes Based on Province

Province  Eligible Voters   Votes  Turnout (percent)
East Azerbaijan  1,938,108  1,212,445 62.56
West Azerbaijan  896,767  411,088 45.84
Esfahan  1,488,622  1,186,355 79.69
Alborz  NA  NA NA
Ilam  152,856  120,480 78.82
Bushehr  247,233  164,010 66.34
Tehran  4,260,545  2,541,323 59.65
Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari  251,700  171,443 68.11
Khorasan  2,249,140  1,549,868 68.91
Khuzestan  1,279,703  582,956 45.55
Zanjan  705,450  572,983 81.22
Semnan  203,413  169,365 83.26
Sistan and Baluchestan  457,280  136,290 29.8
Fars  1,379,264  984,837 71.4
Kurdistan  486,931  212,884 43.72
Kerman  707,790  518,294 73.23
Kermanshah  664,862  352,322 52.99
Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad  155,767  104,375 67.01
Gilan  1,026,556  643,461 62.68
Lorestan  574,964  461,961 80.35
Mazandaran  1,550,718  1,135,880 73.25
Markazi  751,455  424,767 56.53
Hormozgan  321,333  161,591 50.29
Hamadan  682,802  510,899 74.82
Yazd  253,758  202,992 79.99
Iran (total)  22,687,017  14,573,803

(including Iranians abroad)

64.24

Due to the assassination of President Rajai, a second presidential election was held in October 1981.

 

Date of Election  2 October 1981
Number of Eligible Voters 22,687,017
Number of Actual Voters 16,847,717
Voter Turnout Rate 74.26%
Number of Candidates Registered to Run 46
Number of Candidates Allowed to Run 4
Percentage of Candidates Allowed to Run 8.69%
Election Winner Seyyed Ali Khamenei
Number and Percentage of Votes Received by Winner 16,008,579 (95.05%)
First Runner-Up Seyyed Ali-Akbar Parvaresh
First Runner-Up Number and Percentage of Votes Received 341,874 (2.02%)
Margin of Victory by the Winner 93.0%
Names and Votes of Other Candidates Seyyed Reza Zavarehi, 59,058 (0.36%)

Hasan Ghafouri-Fard, 80,545 (0.27%)

Nullified Votes 356,411

Sources:

Ministry of Interior: http://www.moi.ir

http://www.etemad.ir/Released/87-12-17/313.htm

http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8802260290

Notes:

Despite being approved to stand for elections, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani quit the race in favor of Seyyed Ali Khamenei three days before election day.

 

 Breakdown of Votes Based on Province

Province   Eligible Voters     Votes   Turnout (percent)
East Azerbaijan  1,938,108  1,524,463 78.66
West Azerbaijan  896,767  526,671 58.73
Esfahan  1,488,622  1,243,068 83.5
Ilam  152,856  163,655 107.06
Bushehr  247,233  186,727 75.53
Tehran  4,260,545  2,752,151 64.6
Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari  251,700  184,097 73.14
Razavi Khorasan  2,249,140  1,668,168 74.17
Khuzestan  1,279,703  697,353 54.49
Zanjan  705,450  630,538 89.38
Semnan  203,413  177,714 87.37
Sistan and Baluchestan  457,280  217,684 47.6
Fars  1,379,264  1,207,693 87.56
Kurdistan  486,931  235,980 48.46
Kerman  707,790  590,415 83.42
Kermanshah  664,862  413,586 62.21
Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad  155,767  136,592 87.69
Gilan  1,026,556  661,192 64.41
Lorestan  574,964  670,085 116.54
Mazandaran  1,550,718  1,144,141 73.78
Markazi  751,455  755,174 100.49
Hormozgan  321,333  205,644 64
Hamadan  682,802  533,618 78.15
Yazd  253,758  210,972 83.14
Iran (total)  22,687,017  16,847,717

(including Iranians abroad)

74.26