DUBAI, March 1. /TASS/. Polling stations opened for voting in elections to Iran's Assembly of Experts and Majlis (unicameral parliament) in all provinces at 8:00 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. GMT).
According to Iran's Election Office, the polling stations will remain open for 10 hours, until 6:00 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. GMT). However, spokesman Mohsen Eslami told the Mehr news agency earlier that voting will be extended if necessary. "Some 60 mln Iranians are eligible to vote this year and in order to exercise this right, a voter will need to present one of five ID documents <...>," Eslami pointed out. According to the World Bank's 2022 data, Iran is home to more than 88 mln people.
Elections to the Assembly of Experts are held in Iran every eight years. This year, the Guardian Council (a supra-parliamentary body composed of members of the clergy) reviewed more than 500 applications to ensure that each candidate met the necessary conditions and ultimately approved only 144 applicants to be placed on the ballot. A total of 14,912 candidates were approved to run in the Majlis elections, which amounted to 73% of the total number of applications. Thus, a total of 51 candidates will be competing for every one seat in parliament.
Some 190,000 military and law enforcement personnel throughout the country will be involved in ensuring security for the elections, and helicopters from the Iranian armed forces will be used to transport ballot boxes from remote regions of the country. All national security services, including border security, will also be placed on high alert.
The Assembly of Experts is an Iranian state body that is composed of 88 authoritative theologians. Its main function is to elect the country's head and spiritual leader. It is also responsible for drafting amendments to the constitution and deciding on the resignation of Iran's leader in those cases stipulated by the constitution.
The Majlis consists of 290 members. The Iranian constitution provides for the possibility of changing the number of members of parliament, taking into account political, geographical and other factors; every 10 years the number of Majlis members can be increased by 20 people. Five seats are reserved for religious minorities: Assyrian Christians and Chaldeans together elect one member, while Armenian Christians elect two, and Jews and Zoroastrians elect one each. The term of office is four years.