Transcript:
Ten days before the elections, we noticed that the Ministry of Communications has decided to completely disconnect our connection with our staff and the connection with the protection of the votes, throughout the entire country...and disconnect us with all our representatives. We had designed a system that our representatives would be present at all the ballot boxes and operative committees and that via SMS they would report all wrongdoings so that we can prevent these violations. I announced this during a press conference, that based on the information that we have received from within the Ministry of the Interior, that in fact they had plans to disconnect all computer and SMS connections on the day of and the day before the actual election, and cause trouble. Now the following day both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Communications denied this, claiming that it is totally impossible for this system to be disconnected or undermined. But on the 21st of Khordaad and the day before the elections, we noticed that they disconnected our entire SMS system. And even at 11 p.m. on Friday, the 21st of Khordaad, they even disconnected private SMS connections as well. And therefore, effectively our connection with the entire country was cut off. This was a clear widespread violation and fraud on all levels of the electoral domains.
We then sounded the alarm bells and on the 22nd of Khordaad we wrote a letter to the Minister of the Interior and brought the measure of the fraud and violations that they themselves had committed and that the government had committed to his attention.
The third violation is that based on the law and given the agreement that our representative had with the Guardian Council, an hour before the opening of the polls, the representatives of the candidates can show up in order to oversee the inspection of the ballot boxes, in order to be sure of the fact that the boxes are in fact empty, and then to make sure that the boxes are properly sealed. This is coordination as well as the agreement that took place between our representative and the Guardian Council. So we told all our representatives to show up from an hour before and supervise the process of the sealing of the boxes.
They kicked our representatives out and away from the boxes. What was in those boxes that, you Mr. Guardian Council and Minister of the Interior, did not have the courage, for the representatives of our candidates could see for themselves, if the boxes are empty or contain votes...and how they are sealed. Why did you kick out those people who had shown up before you, at the locations and mosques? And then prohibit those who showed up afterwards from entering? This is a huge question mark in front of the Guardian Council where they have no answers. And then the same for the Ministry of the Interior, where they have no answer for it either.
The other issue in connection with this is the issue of the management of the evaluation (?) I think that from how he talks about it later, it means ballot). In the letters that we wrote to the Guardian Council and the Ministry of the Interior, it is documented. These letters were sent out before the elections took place. Based on the info that we have at hand, the Ministry of the Interior published fifty nine million, six hundred thousand evaluation slips (or ballots) whereas they have announced that forty six million, two hundred thousand are eligible to vote. This means that more than 13 million over the eligible to vote have been printed. However, on the day of the election, in actuality, in many of the cities and provinces, there was a shortage of slips and the branches claimed that they are lacking slips. In Western Azarbaijan for example...the Ministry of the Interior sent two million, six hundred and fifty thousand slips to Western Azarbaijan; while the eligible number of voters in Western Azarbaijan are two million, four hundred thousand. If even every single one of the eligible voters vote, that means that they only require two million, four hundred thousand slips and there will be no shortcoming either. The Ministry of the Interior has therefore sent two hundred and fifty thousand slips more than the number of eligible voters to that province.
However, at least, fifty electoral branches whose numbers and estimations are available, in the city of Tabriz, at 10 a.m. did not have the slips. And there were throngs of people at the polling stations without the availability of any slips. In two hours, meaning from 8 a.m. which is the time the polling stations open, until 10 a.m., all of a sudden, they announced they had no slips. Where on earth did those slips go? And then people had waited until 5 p.m., behind the gates, to vote, and the slips were non-existent.
So, due to the pressures they had brought to bear, a number of slips were sent over by the Ministry of the Interior which lasted a short while and then again, they ran out. And as such a huge number of people in Tabriz and in Western Azarbaijan were deprived of voting.
In Ardebil, they said it in the morning...that they have no slips. In Kermanshah and various other cities, they announced at noon, that they had run out of slips. In Gilan, Mazandaran, Tehran and various other cities and provinces...I’m trying to cogitate to name some of these cities...where there were no slips. Where did these slips go? And then how were they placed in the boxes? Again, this is a big question mark...of how extra slips could be sent out but they run out...and in the morning and noon even. Now, I will tell you why the slips ran out so quickly.
Posted via email from lissping
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