1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum

Last updated

Islamic Republic referendum
30—31 March 1979 [1] / 10—11 Farvardin 1358 SH
In the Name of God
Interim Government of the Islamic Revolution
Ministry of Interior
Referendum Election Ballot
Change of previous regime into Islamic Republic
the constitution of which to be approved by the nation. [2]
Paper of Iranian referendum 1979.jpg
Iranian referendum 1979.jpg
The two-parts ballot of referendum, with the green paper indicating "Yes" and red paper indicating "No" [2]
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes20,147,85599.31%
Light brown x.svgNo140,9960.69%
Total votes20,288,851100.00%
Registered voters/turnout~22,000,000 [1] 89 [3] %

A referendum on creating an Islamic Republic was held in Iran on 30 and 31 March 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini did not allow an open referendum, insisting that the Iranian population had chosen an "Islamic Republic" already by demonstrating against the Shah. In response, political parties such as the National Democratic Front and the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas boycotted the referendum.

Contents

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the Tudeh Party of Iran, the Freedom Movement of Iran, the National Front, and the Islamic People's Republican Party, also "objected to the imposition of Khomeini's choice". [4] According to "official results", it was approved by 98.2% of eligible citizens. [3] [5]

In order to include the Iranian youth who participated in the revolution, the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16. [3]

Following this, the 1906 constitution was declared invalid and a new constitution for an Islamic state was created and ratified by another referendum in December 1979.

Party policies

PositionOrganizationsRef
Yes
Islamic Republican Party [4]
National Front [4] [6]
Freedom Movement [4] [6]
Tudeh Party [4] [6]
People's Mojahedin Organization [4]
Muslim People's Republic Party [4]
Toilers Party [7]
Iran Party [ citation needed ]
Pan-Iranist Party [8]
Nation Party [8]
Boycott
 National Democratic Front [4]
Organization of People's Fedai Guerrillas [9]
People's Fedai Guerrillas [10]
Peykar [8]
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan [11]
Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan [11]

Voting

Woman casting her vote Iranian Islamic Republic referendum, March 1979.jpg
Woman casting her vote

Voters were given a three-part ballot, two of which containing the following statement:

The Interim Government of Iran invited a four-man delegation of international jurists from International Association of Democratic Lawyers to monitor the voting. [12] According to The Washington Post , polling places lacked voting booths and the colored ballots could clearly be seen by observers, quoting head of the delegation "this is not the way we do things in the West, and it does not meet our criteria of democracy". [13] Sadegh Zibakalam describes the referendum as "free and fair". [14] Michael Axworthy states "there may have been some irregularities in the referendum, but most balanced observers then and since have accepted that whatever the conditions, a referendum at that time with that question would always have given a massive majority for the same result". [15]

A huge voter turnout was reported nationwide, except for Turkmen Sahra and Iranian Kurdistan, where the referendum was not held in full due to ongoing armed conflicts. [16]

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For20,147,85599.3
Against140,9960.7
Valid Votes20,288,851100
Source: Nohlen et al [1]
ChoiceVotes
Number of Eligible Voters20,857,391
Number of Actual Voters20,440,108
Voter Turnout98%
Source: Iran Social Science Data Portal [17]

Results by province

ProvinceVotesProportion of votes
YesNoYesNo
East Azerbaijan Province 2,001,6285,35499.73%0.27%
West Azerbaijan Province 640,3235,54799.14%0.86%
Isfahan Province 1,357,6054,47099.67%0.33%
Ilam Province 161,9421699.99%0.01%
Bakhtaran Province 612,8306,15999.00%1.00%
Bushehr Province 200,02333399.83%0.17%
Tehran Province 3,462,44972,98097.94%2.06%
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province 210,93688599.58%0.42%
Khorasan Province 1,983,4586,71299.66%0.34%
Khuzestan Province 1,248,5918,55799.32%0.68%
Zanjan Province 765,78687599.89%0.11%
Semnan Province 185,67442499.77%0.23%
Sistan and Baluchestan Province 314,3191,05299.67%0.33%
Fars Province 1,224,8215,28199.57%0.43%
Kordestan Province 318,3602,57099.20%0.80%
Kerman Province 651,0111,50799.77%0.23%
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province 159,46325499.84%0.16%
Gilan Province 810,7087,53999.08%0.92%
Lorestan Province 643,21682199.87%0.13%
Mazandaran Province 1,205,5013,87199.68%0.32%
Markazi Province 771,1891,05299.86%0.14%
Hormozgan Province 252,7913,84298.50%1.50%
Hamedan Province 744,6361,02399.86%0.14%
Yazd Province 241,02418799.92%0.08%
Abroad 118,06912,44490.47%9.53%
Total20,286,353153,75599.25%0.75%
Source: Ministry of Interior [ permanent dead link ]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (2001). "Iran". Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. p. 68. ISBN   0-19-924958-X.
  2. 1 2 Hovsepian-Bearce, Yvette (2015). The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN   978-1317605829.
  3. 1 2 3 Hiro, Dilip (2013). Holy Wars (Routledge Revivals): The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. Routledge. p. 169. ISBN   978-1135048310.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Paydar, Parvin (1995). Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 226. ISBN   978-0-521-59572-8.
  5. ↑ Chehabi, Houchang Esfandiar (1986). Modernist Shi'ism and Politics: The Liberation Movement of Iran (PhD Dissertation). Vol. I/II. Yale University. p. 499. ASIN   B0007CAVDC.
  6. 1 2 3 Baktiari, Bahman (1996). Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics. University Press of Florida. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-8130-1461-6.
  7. ↑ Haddad Adel, Gholamali; Elmi, Mohammad Jafar; Taromi-Rad, Hassan. Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press. pp. 209–215. ISBN   9781908433022.
  8. 1 2 3 "بررسی فرایند برگزاری همه‌پرسی نظام جمهوری اسلامی در فروردین 1358". historydocuments.
  9. ↑ Hiro, Dilip (2013). Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. p. 128. ISBN   978-1135043810.
  10. ↑ Maziar, Behrooz (2000). Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran. I.B.Tauris. p. 109. ISBN   1860646301.
  11. 1 2 Romano, David (2006). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity . Cambridge Middle East studies, 22. Cambridge University Press. p.  236. ISBN   978-0-521-85041-4. OCLC   61425259.
  12. ↑ Albala, Nuri; Dossou, Robert; Dreyfus, Nicole; Youssoufi, Abderahmane (May 1979), Commission internationale d'enquete en Iran sur la preparation et le deroulement du referendum des 30 et 31 mars, la situation actuelle des droits de Phomme et la mise en place des nouvelles institutions, les crimes du regime Pahlavi (in French), Association Internationale des Juristes Démocrates
  13. ↑ Ronald Koven (2 April 1979). "Khomeini Decrees Islamic Republic After Vote in Iran". The Washington Post . Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  14. ↑ Sadegh Zibakalam (2014). "To Rule or Not to Rule? An Alternative Look at the Political Life of Ayatollah Khomeini between 1960 and 1980". In Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (ed.). A Critical Introduction to Khomeini. Cambridge University Press. p. 272. ISBN   978-1-107-72906-3.
  15. ↑ Axworthy, Michael (2013), Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic, Oxford University Press, pp. 373–374
  16. ↑ "Landslide Victory for Khomeini Reported in Voting". The New York Times . 2 April 1979. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  17. ↑ "Referenda", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, retrieved 10 August 2016
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