Executive Bylaws for the Election of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership
Legislation approved in 1361 (1982), modified 1385 (2006)
Section One: General Laws
Article 1
Election districts of the Assembly of Experts and the number of elected members from the entire country are according to the attached table.
Article 2
The elections for the Assembly of Experts occur publically via a direct, secret ballot vote.
Article 3
If one or more accepted candidates resign or pass away, the election will take place between the remaining candidate or candidate(s), and this event will not cause a suspension of the entire election.
Clause: In provinces where the number of registered candidates is equal to or less than the vacant seats, candidates from other provinces with confirmed qualifications can change their location to that province within 48 hours.
Article 4
If the vote count between two or multiple candidates is equal, and, according to the table of the number of Experts [khobregan] per district, it is necessary to elect one or more of the candidates, a lottery will decide the winner. The lottery will occur in a joint meeting between the Central Executive Committee of the electoral district [Hay’at-e Ejraii-e Markaz-e Hoze] and the province’s Guardian Council observers.
Clause: Candidates may participate in the lottery meeting, either personally or via only one representative. The relevant candidates must be notified of the location and time of the lottery drawing at least 24 hours in advance.
Article 5
After obtaining the opinion of the Guardian Council, the Interior Ministry will announce its readiness to hold elections to either the Supreme Leader or the Leadership Council mentioned in Article 111 of the Constitution. It will then announce the order of the Supreme Leader to the Guardian Council.
Article 6
The Guardian Council is responsible for the supervision of the election of the Experts.
Article 7
In each election, eligible voters may vote only once, at one polling station using their birth certificate.
Article 8
Voting takes place on one day in the entire country and over a period of at least 10 hours. If necessary, the voting period can be extended.
Clause 1: The Interior Minister is responsible for determining the necessity and length of any extension of voting hours across the entire country. A special provincial extension beyond the nationwide extension requires a joint proposal from the provincial Governor and the Director of the Supervisory Committee of that province, as well as the approval of the Interior Minister.
Clause 2: In case the Guardian Council considers a voting extension to be in conflict with the accuracy and integrity of an election, the opinion of the Guardian Council is final and must be implemented.
Section Two: The Conditions for Eligibility of Voters and Candidates
Article 9
Voters must meet the following criteria:
A. Citizenship in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
B. Fifteen years of age by the date of the election.
Article 10
The following individuals are deprived of the right to vote:
A. Minors and the mentally ill.
B. People deprived of societal rights.
Article 11
Electoral candidates must possess the following conditions:
A. A reputation for religious belief, reliability, and moral behavior.
B. The ability to interpret Islamic law [Ejtehad] to the extent that they can understand certain issues in Islamic jurisprudence [Feqh], and can determine whether the Supreme Leader meets the conditions of leadership.
C. A political and social understanding, and familiarity with the issues of the day.
D. Belief in the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
E. Not having an anti-political and anti-social background
Clause 1: The source of determination of whether candidates possess the above qualities are the jurists [foqaha] of the Guardian Council.
Clause 2: Individuals whose interpretations of Islam [Ejtehad] have been explicitly or implicitly validated by the Supreme Leader have no need for confirmation of their knowledge by the jurists of the Guardian Council.
Clause 3: Residence, birth, or nativity in the electoral district is not a necessity for the voters or candidates.
Clause 4: In case members of the Guardian Council become candidates for the Assembly of Experts, they cannot supervise the election or make decisions relating to the electoral district in which they are running.
Section Three: The Method of Announcing Candidacy and Assessing the Eligibility of the Candidates
Article 12
After receiving the order of the Supreme Leader or the Council mentioned in Article 111 of the Constitution to conduct the Assembly of Experts election, the Interior Ministry is obliged to announce, within at most 10 days, the conditions and dates for registration of candidates. This announcement should be made using public media.
Clause 1: The Supreme Leader may also issue an order for organizing mid-term elections.
Clause 2: Governors of the central electoral districts (governors of the central municipalities of the province) are required to inform the candidates and the public of the electoral district (province) of the date, location, and requirements for registration. This should be done by publication of notices in the media at least five days in advance of the date of registration.
Article 13
Within seven days of the beginning of registration, candidates for the Assembly of Experts must personally or via a representative submit the candidate announcement questionnaire to the central governor’s office [farmandary] of the province. Alongside these documents, the candidate must also submit photocopies of all pages of his/her birth certificate and 12 pieces of recent 6×4 photos of themselves to the central governor’s office and receive a receipt.
Clause 1: Candidates may also submit their registration to the Interior Ministry. Immediately after the registration of candidates, the Interior Ministry is obligated to submit the list of candidates to the central office of the relevant electoral district for completing other necessary tasks.
Clause 2: At the end of each day, the central governor of the province is obligated to submit a list of the names and information of the registered candidates to the Interior Ministry. The Interior Ministry is required to send the Central Supervisory Committee a complete list of the names and information of all candidates across the entire country within that same day.
Article 14
Immediately after the deadline for registration has passed, the central governor of the province is required to submit the original and two copies of the questionnaire, three copies of all pages of the birth certificate, and six photos of the candidate to the Interior Ministry, using a secure delivery system.
Article 15
Upon receiving the registration documents of the candidates, the Interior Ministry is obligated to submit two copies of all the documents and two photos of the candidate to the Central Supervisory Committee. It must do so by at most 72 hours after the deadline for registration has passed. If the Committee has any opinion about the candidate, it must attach the opinion to the package, and submit the photocopy of the birth certificate and the original questionnaire to the Guardian Council.
Article 16
Within 30 days of the arrival of the documents of the candidates of each province, the Guardian Council will conduct the necessary and standard investigations, and will announce its opinion to the Interior Ministry via the Central Supervisory Committee.
Clause 1: The Interior Ministry is obligated within two days to notify either directly or via the central governors of each electoral district those candidates whose eligibility has been rejected based on the opinion of the Guardian Council jurists.
Clause 2: Candidates whose eligibility has not been confirmed can submit an application to the Guardian Council jurists for a renewed assessment of their eligibility within three days of the date of the notification mentioned in Clause 1.
Clause 3: Appeals will be reviewed by the jurists of the Guardian Council within ten days of the deadline for their submission, and will be relayed in writing to the Interior Ministry.
Clause 4: Approval of a candidate’s eligibility by the Guardian Council jurists does not prevent discretionary [Nezarat-e estesvabi] and general supervision by the Guardian Council.
Article 17
Within one day of the arrival of the written opinion of the Guardian Council jurists in response to the appeals request by candidates, the Interior Ministry is obligated to inform the general public of the names of the candidates who have been confirmed in each province by way of Islamic Republic Radio and Television [Seda o Sima] and widely-published newspapers, and forward all details to the central governor of each electoral district.
Article 18
Immediately after obtaining the list of names of candidates, the central governors of the electoral districts must inform the people of the electoral district (the province) by publishing widely disseminated notifications via the mass media.
Section Four: Campaign Advertisements
Article 19
In order to ensure that candidates have equal access to government resources, and in order to facilitate supervision and control of the candidates’ political advertisements, there will be a “Supervisory Commission on Experts’ Political Advertisements” in each province. This group will meet at the provincial governor’s office at the discretion of the governor.
Article 20
The members of the “Supervisory Commission on Experts’ Political Advertisements” are:
1. The governor
2. The highest judiciary official of the state
3. The highest-ranking state monitor from the Guardian Council or a representative selected by the Guardian Council
4. The manager or head of the local affiliate of the Islamic Republic Radio and Television (Seda o Sima) or, if necessary, an adjacent state that has such an affiliate
Article 21
Prior to being broadcast, radio and television ads by candidates for the Assembly of Experts must be recorded and observed by this “Supervisory Commission on Experts’ Political Advertisements.”
Article 22
Any candidate whose eligibility has been approved by the Guardian Council and announced by the Interior Ministry, has the right to use the resources of the local affiliate of the Islamic Republic Radio and Television (Seda o Sima). Each candidate has the right to access an equal amount of these resources.
Article 23
After the publication of the official list of candidates, political campaigns may begin 15 days prior to election-day and last until 24 hours before polls open.
Clause 1: In case a candidate moves from one province to another, the governors of the two provinces are obligated to immediately publish revised lists of the candidates.
Clause 2: Candidates who drop out of the race must notify the central governor of each electoral district or the Interior Ministry in writing by at least 72 hours before the start of the poll. This notice is irreversible.
Article 24
Candidates for the Assembly of Experts, regardless of other offices they may hold, are all equally subject to these rules and may not, under any circumstances, use the Islamic Republic Radio and Television (Seda o Sima) beyond what has been designated by the “Supervisory Commission on Experts’ Political Advertisements.”
The Islamic Republic Radio and Television (Seda o Sima) must also avoid broadcasting any other programs pertaining to the candidates once the official list of candidates has been publicized.
Article 25
The use of tools, employees, and other government resources, or those of companies or institutions affiliated with the government; the tribunes of the Friday prayers; all universities and municipalities; and all agencies that are publically funded at any level is totally forbidden for the candidates of the Assembly of Experts.
Article 26
Attaching announcements, posters, or any other kind of ads on traffic signals, signs for hospitals, schools, all other educational institutions, government offices, institutions affiliated with the government, government vehicles, and public buses is illegal. The police are obligated to remove such ads and, in case of observing someone breaking the law, to arrest him and turn him over to judiciary officials for prosecution.
Clause 1: The use of any advertising material belonging to candidates or their supporters–including paper, cloth, cardboard, metal or any other material–with dimensions beyond 100×70 centimeters is illegal.
Clause 2: Governors or precinct personnel may designate appropriate locations for the placement or presentation of candidate ads.
Article 27
Reports of violation of the campaign advertisement rules will be investigated by the “Supervisory Commission on Experts’ Political Advertisements.” If any violations are proven, this will be officially reported to the candidate by the head of the commission, and if possible, all related campaign material that is in violation will be removed. The candidate will be advised to remove all materials in violation of the rules and prevent any such illegal ads in the future. In addition, one copy of the warning will be provided to the relevant supervisory authorities.
Section Five: The Executive Committee and its Duties
Article 28
Within five days after the announcement of the beginning of the election period by the Interior Ministry, the provincial governor or the manager of the central municipality of the province is obligated to establish an Executive Committee in the center of the electoral district. He will chair the Executive Committee, and membership will consist of the director or supervisor of the provincial Registrar’s Office, the prosecutor-general of the province, and eight “trusted citizens” [mo’tamedin].
Clause: In case there is a no prosecutor-general present, his/her representative will participate in Executive Committee meetings.
Article 29
Administrative members of the Central Executive Committee for the Province, in order to elect the primary and secondary trusted citizens of the province, will have a meeting where they choose 30 individuals from the clergy and trusted citizens of various classes of the people. The selected “trusted citizens” must be native to the electoral district or have at least three years of residency in the district. The Central Executive Committee for the Province will then send all details of these individuals and their selection in a report to the Supervisory Committee of the Province for confirmation.
The Supervisory Committee of the Province has a maximum of two days to express its opinion regarding the eligibility of the “trusted citizens” to the provincial governor.
Clause 1: If the Supervisory Committee of the Province does not confirm any of the selected “trusted citizens,” the administrative members of the Central Executive Committee for the Province are obligated to propose alternative individuals in their place who meet the qualifications to the Supervisory Committee of the Province. At this stage, the Supervisory Committee of the Province is obligated to announce its decision within at most 24 hours. If at least 20 people are able to win the Supervisory Committee’s confirmation, they will elect the primary and secondary “trusted citizens” from amongst themselves.
In case less than 20 people are confirmed, the Interior Ministry is required to select the number of remaining “trusted citizens” within 24 hours, in coordination with the Supervisory Committee of the Province.
Clause 2: “Trusted citizens” mentioned in the Article must have belief in and a practical commitment to Islam and the holy system of the Islamic Republic, loyalty to the Constitution and the progressive principle of the absolute Guardianship of the Jurisprudent, a good reputation, literacy, and the ability to write. They must not have connections to illegal groups or have a recorded criminal conviction.
Clause 3: Individuals known to have committed fraud in any of the previous voter registration branches or the Executive Committees are not permitted on the list of candidates for trusted citizens.
Article 30
The 30 “trusted citizens” elected in Article 30 will organize a meeting, following the invitation of the governor of the province, within two days of being elected. The Supervisory Committee of the Province will be present. After establishing a quorum of at least two-thirds of the “trusted citizens”–not less than 20 people–they will elect eight people amongst themselves as primary “trusted citizens” and five people as secondary “trusted citizens” of the Central Executive Committee for the Province. They will do so via a secret ballot election based on a relative majority vote.
Article 31
The central governorship of the province is obligated to invite the eight people elected as primary “trusted citizens” to participate in meetings of the Central Executive Committee for the Province for the Experts Election within the electoral district.
Article 32
Immediately following the announcement of the Interior Ministry via the media, the central governor of the province is obligated to issue an order for establishing Executive Committees in the municipalities of the province. They must notify all relevant municipal governors.
Article 33
The governor of the municipality or his supervisor is obligated to create a Municipal Executive Committee within a period of five days of the arrival of the order of the central governor of the electoral district. The municipal governor or supervisor will chair the committee and membership will consist of the prosecutor-general, the director or supervisor of the municipality Registrar’s Office, and eight of the “trusted citizens” of the municipality.
Clause: In the case that the municipality does not have a prosecutor-general or director of the Registrar’s Office, the highest organizational authority is obligated to introduce a representative for membership in the Municipal Executive Committee to the governor.
Article 34
Administrative members of the Municipal Executive Committee will organize a meeting to select 30 people from amongst the clerics and the trusted citizens from different social groups of the people of the municipality in order to choose the main and alternative “trusted citizens” for the Municipal Executive Committee. They must be native to the municipality or have at least a history of three years residency in the municipality. All reports and a set of meeting notes will be sent to the Supervisory Committee of the Municipality for approval.
The aforementioned Supervisory Committee of the Municipality will announce its opinion regarding the qualification of these “trusted citizens” to the governor within at most two days.
Clause 1: If the Supervisory Committee does not confirm the qualifications of the proposed “trusted citizens,” the administrative members of the Municipal Executive Committee are obligated to propose different individuals meeting the conditions of the Supervisory Committee of the Municipality and report them in a set of meeting notes. At that stage, the Supervisory Committee of the Municipality is obligated to announce its opinion, and if at least 20 people are confirmed, they will select the main and secondary “trusted citizens” among themselves. If less than 20 people are confirmed, the provincial governor will select the remaining number of “trusted citizens” within 24 hours, in coordination with the Supervisory Committee of the Municipality.
Clause 2: The “trusted citizens” in this Article must possess belief in and a practical obligation to Islam and the holy system of the Islamic Republic, loyalty to the Constitution and the progressive principle of the absolute Guardianship of the Jurisprudent, a good reputation, literacy, and the ability to write. They must not have been connected to illegal groups or have a recorded criminal conviction.
Clause 3: Proposing any individuals who have committed any violation in the Executive Committee or Voter and Registration Branches of a previous election on the list of “trusted citizens” is forbidden.
Article 35
Upon the invitation of the governor of the municipality, 30 people from the selected “trusted citizens” in Article 34 will hold a meeting within two days after their selection. The Supervisory Committee of the Municipality will be present. After establishing the presence of at least two-thirds of the invitees–not less than 20 people–they will elect amongst themselves 8 people as primary “trusted citizens” and 5 people as alternate “trusted citizens” for the Municipal Executive Committee. They will do so via secret ballot and a relative majority vote.
Article 36
Immediately after the provincial governor has issued the order for establishing Executive Committees across the province, the governor of the municipality is to issue the order for the creation of Executive Committees of the subordinate precincts [bakhsh-ha], and notify the relevant precinct supervisors.
Article 37
The director or supervisor of the precinct [bakhshdari] is obligated to form a Precinct Executive Committee within five days after receiving the order from the central governor of the province. The director or supervisor will chair this Precinct Executive Committee and its membership consists of the prosecutor-general’s representative, the director of the Registrar’s Office and/or his representative, and eight of the “trusted citizens” of the precinct.
Clause 1: In the case that the municipality lacks a prosecutor-general or a director of the Registrar, the next highest organizational level is required to introduce a representative for membership in the Provincial Executive Committee.
Article 38
Administrative members of the Precinct Executive Committee, in order to select the main and alternate “trusted citizens” for the Precinct Executive Committee, will organize a meeting of 30 people amongst the clerics and trusted citizens of various classes of the people of the precinct. They must be native to that precinct and/or have at least three years residency in the precinct. The Precinct Executive Committee will send the names of those selected and all reports in a set of meeting notes to the Precinct Supervisory Committee for confirmation.
The indicated Supervisory Committee will announce its opinion regarding the acceptability of the “trusted citizens” within a maximum of two days to the precinct supervisor.
Clause 1: If the Supervisory Committee does not confirm the proposed “trusted citizens,” the administrative members of the Precinct Executive Committee are obligated to propose other qualified individuals (as many necessary to fill the gap) to the Supervisory Committee. At this stage, the Supervisory Committee is required to announce its opinion within at most 24 hours, and if collectively at least 20 individuals are confirmed, they will elect the primary and alternate “trusted citizens” amongst themselves. If this does not occur, the provincial governor, in coordination with the Supervisory Committee of the Province, will select the remaining number within 24 hours.
Clause 2: The “trusted citizens” in this Article must possess the following: belief in and a practical obligation to Islam and the holy Islamic Republican system, allegiance to the Constitution and the progressive principle of absolute Guardianship of the Jurisprudent, a good reputation, literacy, and the ability to write. They must not have ever been affiliated with illegal groups, and they cannot have a recorded criminal conviction.
Clause 3: Individuals who have committed fraud in the Executive Committees or the voting and registration stations of previous elections are forbidden from being nominated for the list of “trusted citizens.”
Article 39
Upon invitation by the director or supervisor of the precinct, 30 of the chosen “trusted citizens” will organize a meeting, within two days of being selected, in the presence of the Supervisory Committee of the precinct. After establishing the presence of at least two-thirds of the invitees, which cannot be less than 20 people, they will elect eight people as primary “trusted citizens” and 5 people as alternative “trusted citizens” of the Precinct Executive Committee, according to a majority vote election via secret ballot.
Article 40
Public officials, who, according the requirements of their post, participate in the Executive Committee of the electoral district (province), municipality, or precinct, so long as they have not resigned or been fired from their positions, are obligated to participate in the meetings of the Executive Committees, and their deliberate and unexcused absence from participation in these meetings is considered in contradiction with fulfilling their legal obligations.
Article 41
Provincial and municipal governors and precinct supervisors are obligated to report immediately any absences by any public official members of the Executive Committees and reasons for those absences to the Interior Ministry
Article 42
Any time during an election period, if one or a more individuals of the “trusted citizens” in the Executive Committees miss two consecutive or four intermittent Executive Committee meetings, the governors or precinct supervisor will choose alternative “trusted citizens” in their place. They will choose the alternates according to the order of the number of votes received.
In any case, as long as the majority of the members of the Executive Committee members remain, the actions of the Committee carry the weight of law.
Article 43
Any time during an election period that one or more of the “trusted citizens” of the Executive Committees miss two consecutive or four intermittent meetings, or resign from their posts, rendering the Executive Committee incapable of reaching a majority, the provincial or municipal governor, or precinct supervisor, will install in their place an alternate “trusted citizen.” They will do so according to the order of the number of votes received. If the Executive Committee cannot reach a majority despite the invitation of alternates, the remaining “trusted citizens” (from the original 30 people) will be assigned to the committee in order of votes received.
Article 44
The Precinct Executive Committees, immediately after the selection of “trusted citizens” and filling all positions, will organize a meeting. There, they will specify the location and number of locations for voting and registration stations, and the precinct governor will report their results by submitting the meeting notes to the governor of the municipality.
Article 45
After designating the location of voting and registration stations in the center of the municipality and precinct, and reviewing and confirming the decisions [tasavobaat] of the subordinate Precinct Executive Committees regarding the number and location of voting and registration stations, the Municipal Executive Committees will report this information to the central governor of the electoral district (the governor of the province) via the governor of the municipality.
Article 46
The Central Executive Committee of the electoral district (the province) and the subordinate Municipal Executive Committees, after reviewing and confirming the decisions of the subordinate Precinct Executive Committees regarding the number and location of voting and registration stations, are required to publish public notices. These notices will indicate the date of the election, the voting times, voter eligibility conditions, secondary details, and the locations of voting and registration stations.
Governors of the municipalities in the province must submit four copies of the published notice to the central governor of the province, and the provincial governor is obliged to submit three copies of all published notices received by his office to the Interior Ministry. One copy of these notices will be sent to the Central Supervisory Committee.
Article 47
After the Municipal Executive Committee has confirmed the number and location of voting and registration stations in each precinct under its supervision, each Precinct Executive Committee must select five or seven local “trusted citizens,” who possess literacy and the ability to write, for each voting and registration station. These “trusted citizens” must be introduced to the precinct supervisor in order to issue the executive order.
Clause 1: If there are not enough “trusted citizens” with the ability to read and write in the location of a voting and registration station, the Precinct Executive Committee can select “trusted citizens” from the outside and dispatch them with an order from the precinct supervisor.
Clause 2: If another election is organized at the same time as the Assembly of Experts election, the Interior Ministry will establish a voting and registration station with the same personnel but separate ballot boxes for the aforementioned election. The ministry will coordinate with the Central Supervisory Committee in doing so.
Clause 3: The Executive Committee is required to organize a program relating to training of voting and registration station members. This may be done any time after the determination of members until one day prior to the day of voting.
Article 48
Provincial and municipal governors, and precinct supervisors, are required to determine and place the necessary number of security personnel to protect the voting and registration stations as well as the ballot boxes. In case there are not enough security personnel available, governors may invite the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Article 49
Security and police forces do not have the authority to interfere in the administrative affairs of the election or to supervise the election. Their membership (aside from clergy employed as representatives of the offices of the Supreme Leader and its related political-ideological offices) in the Executive, Supervisory, or Reviewing Committees is forbidden.
Article 50
Meetings of the Executive Committees will be official if there is a quorum of at least eight people present, and their decisions are official by an absolute majority vote of those present. If the provincial or municipal governor, or precinct supervisors, is not present at a meeting, the “trusted citizens” will select one person amongst themselves as a chairman for that meeting.
Article 51
Members of the voting and registration station will elect amongst themselves a Director, a Deputy Director, and between 3 and 5 Secretaries.
Article 52
Provincial and municipal governors are obligated to designate and dispatch a maximum of two representatives to each voting and registration station. They can do so directly or by delegating authority to subordinate precinct supervisors.
Article 53
The Executive Committees are responsible for organizing and ensuring the accuracy of the elections of the Experts within their jurisdictions. At the provincial level, this is under the administration of the central provincial governor; in the municipalities under the administration of the municipality governor; and in the precincts under the administration of the precinct supervisor.
Clause: At all stages of organizing the Experts elections, governors and Executive Committees of the municipalities subordinate to each province are obligated to implement the legal directives of the central provincial governor and the Central Executive Committee of the Province.
Article 54
Since no Executive Committee is established in the central precinct of the municipalities, all of the responsibilities of the precinct supervisor and the Executive Committees of the central precincts (if they were to exist) in electoral affairs are transferred to the central municipal governor and the Municipal Executive Committee.
Article 55
The Precinct Executive Committee can specify a mobile voting and registration station for difficult-to-reach, mountainous, and long-distance regions, where it is not possible to establish a voting and registration station. The Committee must get the approval of the Municipal Executive Committee and inform the Central Executive Committee of the province.
Article 56
Executive Committees must arrange that, one day prior to voting, the voting and registration stations are ready, and the administrators for each voting and registration station are present at the location at least one hour prior to the start of voting.
Article 57
Electoral ballots have two sections that are separable at the dotted lines. The first section is considered the elections certificate and the voter’s information is written here; the second section is the voting ballot itself that will be submitted to the voter. Both sections, the certificate and the voting ballot, must be sealed with stamps confirming implementation and supervision.
Article 58
In case any of the voting and registration stations, for various reasons, are unable to announce voting results and compile the proper set of reports [soorat jalase], the Executive Committee will directly take action to announce voting results and compile a set of reports for the aforementioned station.
Article 59
The responsibility for holding and protecting all of the papers and necessities of the election and the ballot boxes is with representatives of the provincial governor until they are transferred to the members of the voting and registration stations.
Article 60
The precinct supervisor or manager has responsibility for maintaining and protecting all of the electoral documents and voter ballot boxes until their transfer to the Municipal Executive Committees.
Article 61
The responsibility for maintaining and protecting electoral papers and documents and voter ballot boxes–until the arrival of the Interior Ministry order for their disposal–is with the provincial governor or the supervisor of the Governor‘s office.
Article 62
The Interior Ministry, after receiving the directive of the Guardian Council regarding the official ending of the election in every province, will issue an order for the disposal of ballots and voting papers.
Article 63
The representative of the governor and the members of the voting and registration stations are obligated to be present one hour prior to the start of voting in each voting and registration station. After organizing the material and documents necessary for the election, and ensuring that the ballot boxes are empty, locked, and stamped, they may initiate the program of registration, voting, and reading the results, according to the following stages:
First: Arrival of voters
Second: Validation
Third: Registration
Fourth: Voting
Fifth: Tallying the votes
First: Arrival of voters
1. Branch administrators must attempt to establish the voting area in a location and compound that has at least two entrances and two exits for the voters. This way, in the event of a large voter turnout, they will be able to easily establish a line that maintains the order in which voters entered the premises.
2. Voters come to the voting and registration station with their original birth certificate in hand and they organize in one line and enter, in order, the voting area to register and vote.
Second: Validation
Validation will take place in two stages:
A. Validation of the birth certificate
The representative of the governor, or the director, or any of the three secretaries of the voting and registration station, must examine identification cards of the voters. In doing so, they will pay attention to ensure the following:
1. The birth certificate of the voter has not been stamped for the current Assembly of Experts election.
2. The birth certificate belongs to the individual present and he/she is at least 15 years of age on the day of voting.
B. The validation and inspection of fingers
The representative of the governor, or the director of the branch, or any one of the three secretaries will examine the right index finger of the voter to ensure that it is not marked with the stamp ink of the election. In the case that the voter has an identification card that has been stamped for the on-going election of the Experts, or they have traces of ink on their index finger, indicating they have already voted in a different branch, the representative of the governor must order the detention of the individual by security forces or Revolutionary Guards and initiate a report for the appropriate authorities.
Third: Registration
1. After the validation stage and confirming that the birth certificate belongs to the present voter, that the voter meets all conditions, and that he/she has not voted in another branch, one of the secretaries will record the information of the voter based on his/her birth certificate on the first portion (certificate page) of the ballot. Then, after the voter has signed or placed his fingerprint on this page, the secretary will stamp this page with the seal of that particular Experts Election and the date of the signature.
2. The administrator of registration will then stamp the birth certificate with the seal of the Experts Election and return it to the owner.
Fourth: Voting
1. After voter registration, the administrator will stamp the ballot with the seal of the Experts Elections and separate the voting portion of the ballot at the dotted line and give it to the voter so that he can write the names of his preferred candidates, up to the number of seats available in the district, fold the ballot, and drop it in the ballot box; and after the administrator has colored his right index finger with a special ink, he will leave the polling station through the exit, and the voter ballot will remain within the polling station.
2. The representative of the governor and the members of the voting and registration station must arrange matters such that filling out the ballots occurs secretly, completely free, and without outside influence of other persons. Therefore, individuals who have any form of responsibilities at the branch do not have the right to fill out ballots on behalf of any individual, and in the case that the voter is unable to fill out the ballot for any reason, the voter must utilize an outside individual in whom he/she trusts, and members of the polling station will be vigilant so that illegal actions do not occur.
3. In the case that they observe violations or attempts to influence the voter, observers of the Guardian Council are obligated to report the incident to the members of the polling station and the representative of the governor, who must, in turn, order the detention of the accused person(s) by the security personnel and hand them over, along with a report of the incident, to the proper authorities.
4. The representative of the governor and the director of the voting and registration station will ensure that no armed individual enters the polling station. This will be done by the security personnel at the front entrance of the polling station.
Fifth: Tallying the votes
After voting hours expire, and after confirming that no more voters remain in the polling station, the entrance door of the polling station is closed in the presence of the governor’s representative, the Guardian Council’s observer, and the monitors of the ballot box. Afterwards, the ballot certificates [the first section of the ballot] that have been collected are counted by the director of the polling station, or his representative, and/or one of the secretaries, in coordination with the other members of the branch. After that, the number of votes inside the ballot box will be counted, without reading the votes, by the director of the voting and registration station, or his deputy, in coordination with the other branch members. At this point, the tallying of the vote results will occur according to one of two conditions:
1. If the number of votes inside the ballot box is equal to the number of ballot certificates counted, then counting [Gheraa’at] of the votes results will commence.
2. If the number of votes inside the ballot box is greater than the number of ballot certificates used, the director of the branch will detract the excess ballots from the total number of votes, without reading their content. He will do so in the presence of the members of the polling station, the representative of the governor, and the observer of the Guardian Council, and the ballot box monitors. Following that, the back of the excess papers will be marked in red (with “cancelled”), they will be attached to the official report, and afterwards the tallying of the votes will begin.
Explanation:
In case there are unprinted ballots among the votes that have been turned in, these hand-written papers should be the first to be removed from the total vote. Any other excess vote ballots (if any still exist) will then be deducted from the total vote according to the aforementioned procedure.
3. If the number of votes inside the ballot box is less than the number of ballot certificates, the poll station report will note this fact and the number of votes counted will be considered the official number of votes. Ballots will then be placed back in the ballot box and the tallying of votes will commence.
Explanation A:
In the cases below, with the confirmation of the Municipal Supervisory Committee, the voting ballots will be invalidated but be included in the total number of votes taken. This will be included in the polling station report, and the invalidated ballots will be attached to these reports.
1. Ballots are illegible.
2. Ballots include the name of the voter, his/her signature, or fingerprint.
3. Ballots consist of names other than the names of electoral candidates in the relevant electoral district.
4. Blank ballots thrown into the ballot box.
5. Votes that have been bought or sold.
6. Votes that have been acquired by threats, in the favor of a particular candidate.
Explanation B:
In the cases below, with the confirmation of the Municipal Supervisory Committee, ballots will be invalidated and not considered as part of the final tally. This will be recorded in the polling station report and the disqualified ballots will be attached to this report.
1. The ballot box lacks a lock and the stamp of the election.
2. The number of vote ballots exceeds the number of ballot certificates.
3. Votes of people who have not reached the legal age.
4. Votes where birth certificates of a deceased or a non-Iranian individual were used.
5. Votes that have been acquired by cheating and deceit (in ballot certificates, votes, polling station reports, and counting of the votes).
6. Votes where a different or fake birth certificate was used.
7. Duplicate votes.
8. Ballots cast with the identification of someone who was not present.
9. Ballots that lack the electoral stamp.
10. Votes that have been written on a piece of paper other than the official ballot.
11. All votes recorded in polling station report belonging to ballot boxes that lack the voting ballots or the ballot certificates.
Explanation C:
The voting paper is not invalidated in these cases:
In cases where some names on the ballot are legible but others are not; or in addition to the names of the candidates, other names have been written; or the written names are more than the number of contested seats in the district; or the name of a candidate has been written more than once on the voting paper; in any of these cases, the ballot is not invalidated and action is taken according to the following explanations:
1. In districts where the number of Experts necessary is more than one person, only illegible names will be invalidated.
2. In cases where, in addition to the names of candidates relevant to the electoral district, additional names have been written, only the additional names will not be read.
3. In cases where the name of one electoral candidate has been written more than once, it will be considered as only one vote for that candidate.
4. In cases where the number of names written on the ballot exceeds the number of open seats in the district, the excess names, starting from the bottom of the paper, will not be read.
4. [ed. there is an apparent mistake in the numbering in the original document; it should be 5.] After the completion of the vote tally, five copies of the poll station report–as well as the completed poll station form–will be prepared. Afterwards, the number of votes for each candidate will be written in a special form (the form named “Results of the Experts Election”) on the back of the polling station report. These polling station reports of the voting and registration station will be prepared and signed by the representative of the governor, the members of the station, and the Guardian Council’s observer. Then, all of the electoral papers and documents and one copy of the polling station report of the voter and registration station will be placed inside the station’s ballot box.
After sealing and locking the ballot boxes, they are delivered to the ballot box monitors alongside two copies of the polling station report.
One copy of the polling station report is submitted to the Guardian Council’s observer or, in his absence, the representative of the governor, for submission to the observer or observers of the Guardian Council in the center of the municipality.
Additionally, one copy of the polling station report will remain with the director of the station until the end of the election, after which it will be transferred to the governor; and the director of the polling station, together with the representative of the governor and, if desired, members of the polling station, together with the ballot box monitors, will all visit the relevant precinct supervisor or municipal governor’s office. There, the ballot boxes, the polling station report, and documents will be officially submitted to the municipal governor or the precinct supervisor.
Article 64
The Precinct Executive Committee will announce the results of the vote, following the collection of ballot boxes and polling station reports from the voting and registration stations. Simultaneously, they will send the relevant ballot boxes and the polling station reports to the Municipal Executive Committee.
Article 65
The Municipal Executive Committee will record the election results in the entire municipality immediately after receiving the subordinate precinct election results. It will announce the results of the election and send a copy of the polling station reports of all the subordinate precincts to the Central Executive Committee of the electoral province (the central municipality of the province). The observers of the Guardian Council will sign the bottom of the election poll reports and, if they have any comments, record them.
Article 66
The Central Executive Committee of the province will inform the provincial observers of the final results of the Experts Election in the province immediately after receiving the results of the elections from the subordinate municipalities. They will also announce the results to the Interior Ministry.
Article 67
Within 2 days after the publication of the election results, the Central Executive Committee of the province will accept all formal complaints about the election and address them within 48 hours in the presence of the observers of the Guardian Council. Their decisions regarding the complaints will be recorded in a meeting report with three copies sent to the Interior Ministry.
Section Seven: Complaints, Prosecution Regulations, and Miscellaneous Issues
Article 68
Immediately upon receiving three copies of the complaints reports from each province, the Interior Ministry will submit two copies of the aforementioned reports to the Central Supervisory Committee of the Guardian Council. After reviewing them, the committee will write a formal opinion and provide one copy to the Guardian Council.
Article 69
People who have complaints about the way the elections were conducted can, within one week of the date of voting, submit their complaints to the Secretary’s Office of the Guardian Council.
Article 70
At most within one week after receiving the opinion of the Central Supervisory Committee regarding the complaint reports from each province, the Guardian Council will announce to the Interior Ministry its final opinion regarding the election in that province. It will do so through the Central Supervisory Committee.
Article 71
Upon receiving the Guardian Council opinion, the Interior Ministry will submit all reports to the central governor’s office of the provincial electoral district in order to notify the Executive Committee of the Election; that body will then issue a Letter of Certification announcing the elected Expert(s) in the province.
Article 72
The issuing of a Letter of Certification of the elected officials is dependant on the opinion of the Guardian Council. This Letter of Certification of the elected Experts, including attached photos, will be prepared by the Central Executive Committee of the province in five copies. One copy of the Letter of Certification will be given to the elected candidate, and three copies sent to the Interior Ministry.
The Interior Ministry will submit two copies of the Letter of Certification of each elected Expert to the Central Supervisory Committee. One of these copies will be forwarded to the Guardian Council.
Article 73
Complaints submitted during the election of the Experts to the Guardian Council, its observers, or the Executive Committees will not prevent the elections from continuing.
Article 74
None of the members of the Executive Committees or members of the voting and registration stations or the Guardian Council observers can have familial relations–direct or through marriage up to three degrees [ed., e.g., people married into one’s extended family]–with the candidates in the election.
Article 75
Anyone who buys or sells Experts election ballots; or manipulates the actual vote ballots; or in any other form disrupts or manipulates the elections; cheats, deceives, or betrays in his/her election duties, or resorts to threats and greed; or gains or casts votes using an identification belonging to someone else, or uses a fake identification with knowledge of its fakeness, or votes more than once will be held accountable to the law.
Article 76
The Interior Ministry is responsible for implementing the laws for the election of the Experts, and is responsible for conducting the elections. Therefore, it can send stationary or mobile officials to monitor and control the elections process at the province, municipality, precinct, or registration and voting branch levels.
Article 77
Upon the request of the Interior Ministry, provincial and municipal governors, precinct supervisors, observers of the Guardian Council, all ministries, legal institutions, government or government-affiliated institutions, municipalities, or public institutions are obliged to provide their employees and other resources until the end of the election cycle.
Article 78
At the first appropriate opportunity, and after obtaining the opinion of the Guardian Council, the Interior Ministry is obliged to hold new elections in all districts where the elections were suspended or invalidated. The Interior Ministry must do so based on the Electoral Law of the Assembly of Experts and its executive bylaws.
Article 79
Any time when one or more Experts passes away or resigns, or for any reason an electoral district loses an Expert, if more than one year remains in the term of the Assembly of Experts, the Interior Ministry will, with the confirmation of the Guardian Council, take action to elect replacements for them, based on the Electoral Law of the Assembly of Experts and its executive bylaws. The duration of the term of Expert(s) elected in this manner lasts only until the end of the legal term of the Assembly of Experts.
Article 80
Any time one or several candidates who possess a relative majority of the vote die or resign before the issuance of a Letter of Certification, after confirmation by the Guardian Council, the Central Executive Committee of the Province will replace them with the next candidate(s) with the highest vote count in order of the number of votes earned. The Central Executive Committee of the province will issue a Letter of Certification for them.
Article 81
Membership of one individual in more than one Executive Committee of the Experts election is forbidden.
Article 82
The Interior Ministry will produce and implement all financial and administrative directives for the Assembly of Experts elections.
Article 83
This Code, which consists of 116 Articles and 18 Clauses, has received the Guardian Council’s approval in a meeting dated 18 Mehr 1361 (10 October 1982).
Explanation: Considering the reforms that were enacted in the last meeting of the Guardian Council, dated 3 Khordad 1385 (24 May 2006), the Bylaws for Implementation of Assembly of Experts Elections now has 83 Articles and 35 Clauses.
Regarding Clause 1 of Article 9 in the Bylaws for the Elections of the Assembly of Experts:
If new evidence of the lack of eligibility of any candidate for representation in the Assembly of Experts is revealed after the period for candidate vetting and eligibility investigation, the Guardian Council’s jurisprudents will investigate and announce the lack of eligibility of that candidate. The Central Supervisory Committee will then report the details of the disqualification to the National Electoral Organization.
Speaker or Agency: Assembly of Experts
Title: Executive Bylaws for the Election of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership
Language: English
Western Date: 10 October 1982 (modified 24 May 2006)
Persian Date: 18 Mehr 1361 (modified 3 Khordad 1385)
Physical/Electronic Location:
Citation or official document code:
Translator: Iran Data Portal
Date Translated: 14 January 2011
Tags: Assembly of Experts, Election, Candidates
Date Last Updated: 1 August 2011