Iranians Vote in Presidential Election Marked by Low Turnout

Iranians are voting Friday in a presidential election marked by low turnout.

Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported that 37% of the country’s 59 million eligible voters had cast ballots by 7:30 p.m. local time, with 4½ hours remaining until the official close of voting. There was no immediate confirmation from the Iranian interior ministry, which was managing the election. Analysts said much of the electorate appeared disenchanted with the nation's Islamist rulers for mismanaging an economy ravaged by U.S. sanctions, a prolonged pandemic and official corruption. Iranian state-approved pollsters had predicted before the election that the turnout percentage could end up in the low 40s, which would mark a record low for a presidential election since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, in which its ruling Shiite clerics seized power from a collapsing monarchy. The previous low turnout was 50% in 1993.